


Dust and Ashes 1

by MyOnlyRealityIsLove, TheHirsch



Category: Almost Human, Dust And Ashes
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Death, Developing Friendships, Explicit Language, F/M, Fear, Friendship, I don't focus on romance guys, Loss, No Smut, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Serious Injuries, Violence, World War III, a lot stuff happens but I cant tag all of it, based on an rp, ex-military, for understandble, hard stuff, set in westcoast usa, spoilery reasons
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-11-16
Packaged: 2019-12-26 19:06:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 23
Words: 56,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18288416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOnlyRealityIsLove/pseuds/MyOnlyRealityIsLove, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHirsch/pseuds/TheHirsch
Summary: As it turned out it didn't need many people to overthrow the world as we knew it; just one egoist with a big red button. Who started this would not matter after all, there are at least two needed for a conflict. And everyone else has to bear the consequence.In one night the City had fallen into chaos, as soon as the first bombs were dropped off above it and the first power shortage made the city go dark.Along with the destruction and the raging fires the survivors where making it difficult. Most people were panicking and along with already rioting groups they spread even more chaos.Jurow and Kennex try to survive all this chaos and to leave the city.





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> America is at war. This is the story of Detective John Kennex and Doctor Nataliya Jurow. In the riots, John Kennex gets injured, Jurow finds him and helps him off the street. But they aren't safe anywhere.

-29th May 2048-

As it turned out it didn't need many people to overthrow the world as we knew it; just one egoist with a big red button. Who started this would not matter, after all, there are at least two needed for a conflict. And everyone else has to bear the consequence.  
In one night the City had fallen into chaos, as soon as the first bombs were dropped off above it and the first power shortage made the city go dark.  
Along with the destruction and the raging fires, the survivors were making it difficult. Most people were panicking and along with already rioting groups, they spread even more chaos.  
At the morning of the next day, the attacks had stopped but there were still crowds rowing through the streets vandalising and looting stores that were still intact. Others trying to flee the city by car and getting stuck in traffic jams.  
Most of the first responders had been sent to handle the chaos but were soon overwhelmed.  
Detective John Kennex remembered trying to defuse a massive riot downtown when another small bomb went off, a blind shell that had not detonated.  
He remembered waking up a decent ways from the scene, bruised but not badly injured, but with no signs of his android partner, Dorian, or any other cops.  
Kennex tried to stand up, yelling Dorian’s name, but realized something was wrong with his synthetic leg. He didn’t know how long he could walk on it, but he was going to need to repair or replace it soon.

***

Doctor Nataliya Jurow had been off duty when the first attacks stroke, her apartment had been destroyed and her flatmate had gone missing, all efforts to try and find her had failed. Now she was trying to get out of the city afoot.  
She could hear chaotic yells somewhere close behind her and started moving faster, if they would see her in her law enforcement gear they would kill her right away. She started running, staying close to the destroyed buildings, on the sidewalk where she could take cover more easily.  
Then she saw a fellow cop a few hundred meters in front of her, he was limping.  
Kennex kept calling out Dorian’s name when his fake leg got caught in some debris. Pain shot up his good part of it, hastily he tried to get free– if he had to crawl his way out, so it would be.  
Jurow saw as he fell and ran faster to get to help him.  
He struggled to remove his leg, he thought of inspecting it to see if it had any use left before pitching it, but his thoughts were hazy and confusing.  
“Can I help you with that?” Jurow asked and hoped he wouldn't respond hostile since he was armed and he could see that she was too. He was the first one she stopped to help.  
He really seemed like he could use some help, she could see the pain in his face, as she hunched down next to him He looked at her and squinted his vision blurring. “Who are you?”  
“The name’s Natasha Jurow,” she answered. She could tell he was confused. “I think I should check you over, just to be sure.”  
“Okay… Have you seen my friend around, his name is Dorian.”  
“No, I haven't,” she had put on gloves and now was checking him over. Especially looking for internal bleeding and a head injury. “How are you feeling?”  
“Woozy .and I can’t focus for shit. I… uh… think I threw up earlier.”  
She used a penlight to test his pupils' reaction. “You have a concussion and a few minor injuries. And I think you can forget your synthetic leg,” she told him, frowning.  
He nodded. “Can you help me get it off?”  
“Yeah, but it will hurt.”  
“Hurts a hell of a lot right now…”  
“Okay. I'll do it quickly.” She used her knife to cut the trousers so she could take off the leg.  
He nodded as he braced for more pain.  
She did it fast and like she had done it before. She did her best to don't make it hurt more than necessary.  
They could hear the sound of the riot approaching. “We should try to find you a new leg. But now we should find a place to hide.”  
He nodded, shaking a little. “Where can we go?”  
“We can hide in one of the buildings and wait for the mob to pass,” she got up and ready to help him up.  
“Okay.” He leaned against her, putting his weight on his good leg. “I was– I was there before, I think— trying to calm down the mob.”  
“I assumed that. But I think you did enough for today.” She was to his side to support him, she looked around for a close and good place to hide.  
“I think—” he looked around. “I think we’re near my apartment?”  
“Where is it?” she could feel her heartbeat fastening over the sound of the people coming closer.  
“Okay, let's try to make it there. What's your name, detective?”  
They started moving towards the alley.  
“John Kennex,” he mumbled, feeling a little nauseous.  
“Nice to meet you, Detective Kennex,“ she said with a brief smile.  
“You- you're not in my precinct, are you?” he asked as he noticed that she was in tactical gear as well, few details were different and she still had her helmet on.  
“Nope,” she said as she could feel how he had trouble holding the balance  
Kennex was trying his best, but it was tricky.  
“Stop!” he called out suddenly— and he threw up.  
She had stopped when he had said it. “Were you unconscious?” Puke. Blood. She wasn't phased, there were things far worse. She kept supporting him, concerned.  
He nodded. “I think so. I remember being at the riots and then waking up in an alley. Oh, and I had a helmet on, but it was so damaged I couldn’t see out of it.”  
“The helmet probably saved you,” she paused, “you have memory gaps?”  
“Kind of, I guess.”  
“Okay. Do you think we will make it to your place?” She frowned. “Sorry. I mean: How do you feel?”  
“Let’s keep going. I know I have a spare leg in there. It’s less fancy but I don’t need to charge it.”  
“Good that comes in handy,” she said as they slowly started moving again.  
After walking through a few alleyways, they got into a residential neighbourhood that seemed a little quieter.  
“There,” He said, pointing about four buildings down, “that’s where I live.”  
“Looks nice.”  
She was glad that they were almost there.  
When they got there, Kennex unlocked the doors and showed Jurow in.  
The power was out, and a window was broken, but Kennex was able to start a backup generator.  
“Okay,” she helped him sit down. “Where is the leg? I'll get it for you.”  
“In my room, under the bed, in a long thin box. Open it to make sure. I keep some guns there too.”  
She smirked. “Alright.”  
She left and a bit later she returned with it.  
She started cleaning his small scratches and cuts. She helped him to attach his leg before checking his head again.  
“Normally, you should go to the hospital with this. But it seems like we are at war, so…”  
“What are you? A doctor?” he asked as he was squinting up at her again.  
“I was trained as a military physician.”  
He nodded, clearly woozy. “Did you serve overseas?”  
“Yeah, I did.”  
She opened her backpack and handed him a water bottle. It was still sealed. "Drink.”  
He nodded and took it in shaky hands.  
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked as she had noticed that he was going through something mentally.  
“I don’t know what to talk about, except everyone I know might be dead right now.”  
“Look, I know it is horrible what happened, but you can't be sure of that. They might be just fine.” She sat down next to him.  
“That’s what happened last time,” he said in a faraway voice, “we were attacked. I woke up seventeen months later as the only survivor.”  
“I'm sorry you had to go through this,” she said softly and carefully placed a hand on his shoulder.  
He jumped a little, as he came out of a bad flashback. But, when he saw Jurow, he smiled a little.  
She had noticed the little jump and knew exactly how he felt. “I didn't mean to trigger anything, sorry.” She sighed. “I am really, really sorry.”  
“You’re fine, really. Not like you knew or anything.”  
“No, I didn't. But I can relate.”  
Being careful, she got up and went a little closer to the window to check the situation in the streets.  
She was fraught and he could tell. He got up, a little wobbly, and moved closer. “What’s wrong?”  
“Nothin’, just checkin’.” She turned around to him.  
“Okay, I’m gonna change into something not dirty. Make yourself comfortable… well, considering…”  
She gave him a smile. “Yes, thank you.”  
He turned around and headed into his room, shutting the door.  
A little later, Kennex came out in cleaner clothes and whatever tactical armour that could still be used.  
Jurow looked at him and got up from her seat.  
He gave her a small smile until he heard a boom. “Get down!” He yelled, running to her.  
She already had reacted and went down and moved over under the table, putting on her helmet.  
In her mind, she started to try to convince herself that this had not been an explosion and rather focusing on protecting Kennex.  
Kennex ran over and wedged himself between Jurow and the window, to keep her safe.  
There were more booms, some of them very close.  
“Is there anything you might take with you? Because we should piss off ASAP!” she yelled to be heard over the sound of explosions.  
As is to strengthen her argument another explosion, very close to them made the windows burst. This was too much. Covering her face and neck she tried to stay in control but now she failed. She was taken back to when she had been injured by a grenade on her second tour overseas.  
“Let me get some guns!” He called out.  
His voice sounded like she was underwater, but it was something she could hold onto.  
“Be right back!” He yelled as he ran into his room.  
She stayed in cover as she waited for him to return, almost holding her breath. In her head, she focused on planning a route out of the city. Not to be sent there again.  
After a few minutes, he ran back out with a large duffel bag and some guns. He gave a few to Jurow. “Ready to go?”  
She nodded, shaking a bit. She grabbed his arm and dragged him with her.  
The explosions went off and she tried not to dissociate.  
“Got it!” He was able to keep up at a brisk pace with his back-up leg, though he had to avoid some debris.  
Outside the air was filled with smoke, dust, and small debris.  
“Crap!” she cursed under her breath.  
Kennex reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “We can make it.”  
Jurow nodded and grabbed his arm in order to not lose him. She didn't like the idea of being out here with almost no cover so she tried to move as fast as possible for him.  
He was able to keep up and tried his best to not focus on his nausea.  
Suddenly the explosions stopped, Jurow turned around for a second and then looked at Kennex as they were going. “If you start feeling worse, you tell me, ok?”  
He nodded, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible.  
They continued their way to out of the area that was under attack.  
When Kennex heard a low rumble, he pulled Jurow to an alleyway to try and hide.  
She could hear it too but was not sure what was going on. She stayed close to him and tried to stay hidden.  
Kennex listened closely, trying to figure out what it was and where it was coming from.  
As the noise grew louder like something was brewing, Jurow started to feel more and more uncomfortable, something was off.  
“This doesn’t sound good,” Kennex said, worried.  
She looked up at him, ranks did matter now. “What do we do?”  
Kennex opened his mouth to say something when he heard a device go off. Immediately, he pulled her to the ground and tried to protect her from any flying debris.  
She tried to stay low, she was impressed by the way he reacted. Sure she would have done the same for him, but most of the cops she knew would not have done that.  
Kennex stayed nearby, covering his head with his hands and waited until the rumbling stopped.  
Jurow could barely enjoy this moment, she was somewhere else.  
“Hey- hey!” Kennex said softly, gently shaking her shoulder. “Natasha, are you still with me?”  
She jumped a little. “Sorry,” she whispered.  
“You’re fine. I’m barely holding it together myself.”  
“We should leave the city.”  
“No shit.”  
“It's good we agree on that,” she tried to smile as she got back up. “Are you hurt?”  
He looked at his hands, which were scratched up. “Back’s a little sore too but I can manage.”  
“Okay. Let's start going again.”  
Kennex nodded and got up, helping Jurow to her feet.  
She nodded at him, thankful for his help. She carefully looked out around the corner to check the street.  
“It’s quiet. We should get going before another attack happens,” she said.  
He nodded.“Agreed.”  
Jurow stayed close to Kennex as they moved down the street.  
He made sure he could access his weapons at any given time, in case someone came after them.  
Jurow was observing their surroundings carefully, she was not keen on any surprises. She also had lots of questions to Kennex, but given his state and their situation, it was better to do it later, at an appropriate time.  
Kennex was struggling to be at a hundred percent as they went through the city, but his head was pounding and he was still a bit nauseous.


	2. Chapter 2

From time to time Jurow looked at Kennex and how he was holding up, as the two kept going.   
All this still felt surreal, she hoped it would be just one of her bad dreams.  
Kennex rubbed the side of his head, clearly in pain.  
"Do you want something against your headache?" she asked as she noticed.  
“You have anything?” he asked, not lifting an eyebrow, his head hurt too much.   
“I do,” she said as she stopped to get something from her backpack.   
“You’re an angel.”  
"That's debatable."  
She needed a moment to find the right painkiller, then she gave it to him.  
“Well, you’ve certainly saved my life.” He said, taking the medicine gratefully.   
"Just doing my part as good as I can." She shouldered the backpack again.  
Kennex nodded, making sure his pack was on properly. He knew he had a lot of supplies in it, but was too woozy to remember what.  
"Do you have a specific place we should head for?" she asked as she started walking again.  
“Out of the city is the first step.” Kennex said. “Beyond that, they may have a temporary shelter set up for people leaving the city.”  
"I'm not sure if it is smart to go there.“  
“Why not?” he raised an eyebrow.  
"Many people in a tight space. Diseases spread more easily and it happens rather quickly that people have conflicts with each other and those conflicts escalate. Or let's just say I have made bad experiences with these kinds of camps.”   
Kennex blinked. “What do you propose we do, then?”  
"Try to not die by ourselves. Stay low. This is presumably just the beginning. As soon as supplies get rare we have the real trouble.”  
“I’m not sure if entirely avoiding people is a great idea.”  
"What is your idea then?”  
“I don’t know. Everything’s kind of gone out the window the last few days. I’m just trying to live until the next day.”  
"Okay, let's get out of the city and decide then." She put an hand on his shoulder. "We will make it.”  
Kennex nodded, trying to be hopeful about the situation.   
She gave him a brief smile, trying to lighten his mood.  
"Look, mate, we both know how to deal with situation like this, we have good chances.”  
“I hope.” Kennex said, a little hesitantly. “.....you’re not from the US, are you?”  
"What gave me away?”  
“Don’t know many Americans who use ‘mate’.” He said with a grin. “What brought you to the crime capital of the world?”  
"I just wanted change, I guess.“  
“Can’t fault that. Where are you from?”  
She took a deep breath, hoping he wouldn't shoot her. "Russia.” She was scared about his reaction since she suspected her motherland behind the attacks.   
Kennex didn’t seem bothered by that. “Are you worried about people’s reactions to that?”  
"I am,” Jurow said, embarrassed, not meeting his eyes.   
“Well, I don’t think we know yet who is responsible, and even if it was Russia, that doesn’t mean everyone from that country is to blame.”  
"I would have more problems if it was really Russia. Just imagine being attacked by the same army you once worked for. To them I am a traitor, to the Americans I'm the enemy and maybe a spy too," she shrugged. "I'll see how I can deal with it."  
“Let’s just focus on getting out of the city.” Kennex said, forcing a small smile. “We can worry about geopolitics later.”  
"Well said," she smiled back at him. She kept looking around. "Damn, where are all the people? I mean this is a city after all."  
“In cars, probably.”  
"Makes sense. Poor guys."  
As they kept walking, they could hear the roar of a crowd coming closer.  
"Fuck," Jurow looked around for a place to hide.  
“Not good.” Kennex could hear the chaotic yells, and the sounds of people breaking windows and setting things on fire. “well, that’s LA for you: things go wrong, and we just make it worse.”  
"They'll kill us, if we don’t get off the street." She kept looking around, trying to not panic.  
The first few people got into view, and when they saw Jurow and Kennex, clearly in law enforcement gear, they charged.  
“Shit, run!” Kennex yelled, grabbing Jurow’s arm.  
She ran as fast as she could, glancing over her shoulder for a second to see how much time they had.  
Their pursuers were fast, and gaining. Kennex, however, refused to let go of Jurow’s arm as they ran.  
Jurow had spotted a building, that's door seemed to be not entirely closed. She pointed towards it. "Over there."  
“Got it!” he ran towards it with her.  
As soon as they reached it, they ran inside and tried to block the door.  
Kennex found some debris to block the door. “That might slow them down.”  
"Yeah," she looked around, her gun drawn to check if they were safe. It seemed like they were alone inside.  
He looked around, his gun drawn too, as if scanning a crime scene for danger. While Jurow stayed close to the door. She could hear how the mob was outside and people who slammed against the door.   
“I think we’re alone in here,” Kennex said softly.   
She nodded, trying to keep her thoughts under control.  
In the room next to them they could hear a window break.  
Carefully Jurow went to see what happened. They were throwing Molotov cocktails inside through the broken windows. First things were catching fire.  
“Shit!” Kennex ran to find Jurow. “We need to find a way out!”  
"Yes, maybe windows to the other side." She started looking for one.   
The Molotov cocktails must have hit something flammable, and smoke started to fill the room.  
“Dammit!” Kennex said, coughing and trying to get close to the ground.  
She dropped to the ground too, pulling her scarf into her face, it would at least help a bit.  
"Stay close to the ground," she said followed by a cough. "We need to get out."  
“Right,” Kennex said, coughing. “Have you seen any exits?”  
"No, but I said we should check if it save to go out of a window on the other side of the building. I just don't want to run into their arms." while she said that she moved closer to be with him. She was not sure how stressful this situation was.  
Kennex moved back to the wall and listened against it. “I think they’re moving.”  
"Stay down, I'll check," she said and padded his shoulder before approaching the windows facing the streets, she were close to the fire, maybe a little too close. She was very glad, she was wearing her SWAT uniform, since it was made of a fabric that was uninflammable. So she had not to worry about her pants melting while she wore them.   
The mob was travelling past to another thing to destroy, not caring if the pair made it out or not.   
“And I thought they set us on fire to get us out. But no, they are leaving us alone,” Jurow told Kennex, as she went down to ground again.   
Her eyes were tearing from the smoke.   
“Maybe they got distracted.” Kennex looked up at the door and realized he locked it. “Hold on.” Taking a breath, he slowly sat up and started undoing the makeshift lock  
"Tell me when you need a hand," she stayed low.  
Kennex managed to get the door opened and unlocked, falling to the ground outside and coughing hard.  
The mob that had gone after them had found a new target—he could hear screams, but know there was nothing he could do.  
"You alright?" she went got up and helped him up. Anxiously looking around.  
“Not really.” He coughed. “We should hang back....let them get ahead. Don’t want to get their attention again.”  
“Yes!” She went closer to have a closer look at him.  
She pulled off one of her gloves to have better feeling and then grabbed his hand, still constantly looking around.  
He coughed more and was shaking, though that might be more due to anxiety. The mob seemed to keep going, not going back to check if they were okay.  
After about a minute she let go of his wrist. She had noticed how unsettled he was "Do you need a hug?"  
“Yeah,” he said quietly, sounding like he usually wouldn't admit to that.   
"I see—you are a tough one," she pulled him into a hug.  
Kennex froze for a second, and then hugged Jurow back.  
"It's fine. I won't tell anyone." she smiled.  
He laughed a little. “Thank you for this.”  
"No problem," she let go of him. And looked around again. "Are you OK enough so we can keep going?"  
“Yeah, let’s get out of here.”  
She nodded and they started moving again, very carefully.  
Kennex stayed close to Jurow, looking to see if anyone was coming towards them.  
She was a bit worried for him. But tried to not show it. If she was honest to herself, she was happy about having met him, traveling on foot alone was always no fun at all especially in this situation where one had fear for their lives at every corner.  
After they have walked for a bit suddenly a voice called out from a window. "You two, over here! "  
Kennex looked at Jurow, not sure if he wanted to follow the voice.  
She looked around and soon had spotted the man standing at a window. She was rather alerted. She moved behind a parked car with him.  
Kennex hid with Jurow, not sure if he should respond to the guy.  
The man shouted something again. Then there was silence, he vanished from the window and was out of sight. A bit later he unlocked the door and showed himself in the doorframe. He appeared to be a cop in uniform, and he was with a few others.  
Kennex’ eyes widened and he showed the man his badge. “Detective John Kennex.” He said, and then identified his precinct.  
Jurow did the same and identified herself.   
“Kennex?” One of the cops called out. “You’re still alive?” The Officer seemed genuinely shocked.  
"Last time I took his pulse, he was," joked Jurow, regretting it the same moment. As she realised they probably had bad news.  
The officer explained that the area Kennex had been in before, where he was quieting a mob before Jurow found him, had been bombed not once but twice. Just about everyone in his precinct, who had been called there, was presumed dead unless proven otherwise.  
As the officer said this, Kennex went pale and started to shake.  
"Hey,"she grabbed his hand. "I'm so sorry."   
Tee police officer closed the door again after he had let them in.  
Kennex didn’t respond, but he was clearly absolutely devastated by the news.  
She tried her best to comfort him. "Look, I know the chances are not quite big, but we don't know for certain."  
“Still....”. He said, his voice sounded far away. “.....last time I was the only survivor....”  
She rubbed his back, even though it was not really effective under the armour.  
Another cop looked over at Kennex for a bit. “.....hey, weren’t you the guy who survived the InSyndicate attack two or three years ago?”  
Kennex looked away, already in a bad place mentally.  
She sat down next to him and glance at the cop who said that.  
“He’s right....”. he said softly. “....this isn’t the first time I’ve woken up and realized everyone I was with was dead....”  
She put a hand on his shoulder. "It is not your fault."  
Kennex shook his head, still partly back there. “I could have saved them....”  
"I don't know what happened back then. But there is nothing you could have done today. Police were outnumbered. "  
“Leave him.” Another cop called out, with no sympathy for Kennex' state. “If he wants to lose it now, he doesn’t deserve your help.”  
"Everyone deserves help. If you have a problem we two can try to sort it out."  
Kennex turned away from the mocking cop and tried to calm himself. He didn’t need to break down now...  
She came a bit closer to Kennex to help him calm down.  
Kennex looked over at Jurow, a little surprised that she would follow him.  
"We are safe," she said quietly. "I'll do my best to protect you."  
He looked at her for a moment, unable to speak....but he reached out and squeezed her hand in lieu of words.  
She squeezed his hand back.  
“.....thank you....”. He was finally able to whisper.  
"Just doing my job"  
Kennex nodded and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, while still holding Jurow’s hand.  
"If you need something ask me."  
“....okay. I’m just trying to calm myself a bit....I won’t be any good if I’m having a panic attack.”  
She nodded and squeezed his hand again.  
He squeezed it back and gave her a small, but genuine smile.  
She smiled back and looked around at the other cops. She tried to determine whrether the rude one was a threat or not.  
“......what’s the plan?” Kennex asked the other cops.  
One answered that they want to stay here as long as possible, in an easy to defend and unsuspicious building and make way for the camp if they need leave.  
“But what about the others outside....this is a major emergency, we can’t just abandon them.”  
They say that they are too many people and that they don't have enough personal. They would also play with the thought of using tear gas or water cannons.  
Kennex looked at Jurow, not liking that answer.  
She looked back at him and then at the cops.   
"I don't think I can actively support that... "  
“We’re still cops...”. Kennex said, softly. “We still have a job to do.”  
"We do but there has to be another way. "  
Kennex looked at the other cops. “I don’t like the idea of giving up now.....there has to be some way we can help people.”  
She nodded in agreement.  
"I really would like to know what motivates people to run around and vandalise. As if the booms didn't cause enough damage, we should unite in those times and don't fight each other. "  
“Chaos.....mob mentality.....we’re all going a little crazy here.” Kennex paused and looked around. “That doesn’t mean we all should give in to that.”  
She nodded "Yeah."  
“Says you....”. Another cop, looking even more rattled than Kennex, eyed them like a rabid dog.  
She didn't react to it at all and hoped Kennex would do the same.  
Kennex looked blankly at the cop and then turned away.  
“If it’s the end of the world....”. The cop continued, “I gotta protect mine. Fuck all these people.”  
"Our job is to help people," Jurow said.   
“Not anymore!” The cop said, standing up and aiming a gun at her.  
Kennex immediately jumped in front of her. “Put the gun down now.”  
She pushed Kennex out of the way. "I am not your enemy and strategically the last person you should kill! " She said to the cop.  
The man looked at her, worried. “You’re Russian, aren’t you?!  
"I'm a citizen of the United States of America." she replied calmly.  
“She’s Russian....this is all her fault.”  
“Calm down!” Kennex said, standing in front of Jurow. “You’re going crazy!”  
"Please keep calm. The people responsible for the situation are not in this room, we all know that.  
“Bullshit, it’s your fault!” the cop screamed into her face.   
She was fierce not changing position. Except the fact that she wanted to be sure Kennex was safe, she had said farewell to her live in the night she had lost her flatmate.   
Kennex, worried that Jurow might get shot, charged the man and managed to grab the gun from him. A shot is fired, but it lodges harmlessly in the walk.   
Jurow looked around, in routine to make sure nobody was hit.   
Kennex tossed the gun aside, just before the man tackled him to try and fight back. The crazy man was almost feral, kicking and punching at Kennex for taking away his gun  
She took a step back out of the struggle and reached inside a pocket of her vest, where she kept quick accessible meds and jumped the rouge cop and injected him with the sedative.  
The man fought for a few seconds, before slowing down and finally flopping on the floor.  
Kennex scooted away, looking even more bruised and bloody. He went to where the gun was and emptied it of ammo. “Fucking hell.”  
She checked if the crazy cop was breathing. He was.   
"Sorry, my bad." She went on to check over Kennex.  
Kennex was bruised, bloody, and regarding the other cops, who didn’t try to stop the crazy one, with suspicion. “Let’s get the hell outta here, ” he whispered to Jurowi  
She nodded and grabbed her stuff. After what just had happened she felt saver alone with Kennex than with those police officers.   
As soon as they were out she relaxed a bit. "You don't have to stand up for me, don't take a beating for me. You are quite protective," she smiled. "Thank you. “  
“Hey, you saved me. I have to return the favor.”   
She nodded, a little speechless.  
“And hey....”. He showed her the crazy cop’s ammo. “.. we have a few more supplies now.”  
“Right,” she smiled.   
He smiled at her, his nose a bit bloody. “You Okay?”  
"Yeah, you the other hand..."   
“I know....I’ve definitely had better days....”  
"How do you cope usually? “  
“......alcohol?”  
She chuckled. "Same, but I managed to quit. I try to work out. “  
“I was trying to quit too....I’ll go to the shooting gallery or play guitar....but haven’t managed to fully get sober.”  
"Well, I guess now you have no other choice…”  
“Guess so....”  
She looked around. "Damn, what do we do? I want to help but I also would like to stay alive.”  
“It’s more dangerous to stay in the city. Let’s go and see if we can help on the road.”  
"Sounds good. Also sorry if I should boss you around, like earlier. I'm just used to either giving orders or receiving them.”


	3. Chapter 3

In the evening they had left the city, from the top of the hill they could see it, the smoke rising from countless fires, some of them even visible in the low light of the setting sun.  
California had been experiencing a drought, everything was dry out here. After they had gotten some distance between themselves and the city they set up a camp.  
"How are you feeling?" Jurow asked. Now they were safe she finally could make sure he really was okay.  
“Sore, nauseous, and not happy with my fellow officers, “ Kennex answered. Now the pain medication Jurow had given him earlier had lost its effect and he felt worse.  
She sat down, leaning against a bald tree. "This guy was nuts, just try to don't think about it.“ She smiled at him and took off her helmet. "Even though you probably won't believe me, after some time you will be used to it, living in a warzone. And when it is over you will feel incredibly relieved and then it can happen that you feel useless and miss the action." She sighed and looked up into the sky.  
“I’m guessing that’s what has happened to you?” he asked, frowning slightly.  
"Basically. Just that there was a bunch of other stuff I went through too.”  
Kennex nodded, and reached out to take her hand in his.  
"I'm OK, don't worry, " she smiled. "I just have my personal difficulties with explosions. Today shook some stuff up. I have a question for you though: You know I'm Russian and you don't seem bothered by it. Why? I mean I could be everything, spy, sleeper, mole, whatever.”  
“You saved me and I can tell you’re a good person by how you treat others. You might be stern, but I can tell you’re a good person.”  
"Thanks," she paused for a second. "You know humans well, Detective Kennex. I guess that's what makes you great at being a cop.”  
Kennex blushed a little. “Thank you.”  
She chuckled a bit nervously.  
“So, what’s your job with the department? Are you with the coroner’s office?”  
"No. I work with the SWAT team. I'm their doctor in the field.“  
“Nice, very nice.” He smiled brightly. “Wish I could have met you before this. You seem like you would be a good help.”  
"At what? “she arched an eyebrow, not getting why he would say that.  
“A lot of things, you seem way smarter than many people I’ve met on the job.”  
She chuckled. “I'm not really smart. I just have quite a lot experience at what I do, that's all.”  
Kennex nodded, a bit tired. When he looked at her, it filled him with warmth and comfort, and she was pretty.  
"But it's nice you are flattering me," she blushed a bit.  
Kennex blushed a bit more. “Well, it’s true.”  
She smiled more than just a little red.  
Kennex took a little from their water rations. “I know you don’t like camps but we should at least find one to see if there is any news from the outside world.”  
"Okay sure. You are right. We can try to head for one tomorrow. If that's OK with you…”  
“That works,” he said, nodding. Clearly he was focused on something else.  
"What's on your mind? “ she asked, having noticed  
“Those cops earlier, they were just happy to hide and not do their job. I know we haven’t been able to do much, but at least we’re out here. And you saved me.”  
"Not that it is OK what they did but I think they are just scared.’  
“Yeah, I guess I just hoped that as cops, some of us would hold it together.”  
She nodded, understanding. “Not all cops like military background like I do, or are badass motherfuckers like you are one.”  
“Thank you, for sticking with me.”  
"Someone has to make sure you don't kill yourself, and besides you seem to be a nice guy. And I'm sure neither of us wants to be alone right now.”  
“True. And thank you.”  
She smiled at him, now she was relaxing a bit she felt tired.  
“Why don’t you get some sleep? I can take first watch.”  
"Only if you think you can handle it with your concussion. “  
“I think so. I feel a little better.”  
“Okay,” she smiled and wrapped herself up in her sleeping bag, curled up but still in her gear, she tried to sleep.  
During that watch, Kennex could hear how down in the city the alarms went off. He carefully woke up Jurow.  
She was confused when she woke up, a bit disoriented at first, but then she could hear it too.  
He looked at her.  
“Calm down, if it is a nuke we won't have any time to get far enough away afoot and for missiles we are far enough away from the city,” she said softly and sat up.  
“You gotta know. So we just sit here and wait?”  
She nodded and leaned against him. She felt sore and simply the thought of missiles raining down soon made her nervous.  
Some time passed and then they saw them, hundreds of them, flying towards them and coming closer at rapid speed.  
Kennex pulled her closer, they were far enough from city to be unharmed.  
Jurow caught herself counting the parts of the middles to see what kind they were as they were about to head towards the ground.  
It was in a chaotic way beautiful.  
And then they started to hit LA and the urban regions around.  
And even though two were far away from it, they could feel the ground vibrate at and her the distant explosions.

-30th May 2048-

In the morning the two had gotten at least some rest, they started packing their stuff again to head for the camp.  
Kennex was awake and moving, though battling a terrible headache.  
"Tell me how do you feel?" she asked as she zipped up her pack, making sure everything was in and securely put away.  
“Head hurts like hell, I still feel like shit, but we gotta keep moving.”  
"Seems like we really need to find a place safe so you can recover... “  
Kennex nodded.  
She smiled at him and the two started heading towards the location of the camp.  
After some time walking, they paused to have a break, to have some water and a bite of their protein bars.  
Jurow looked around, glancing in the distance.  
Kennex wrinkled his nose. “Do you smell that?”  
"I think something is on fire," said Jurow, still looking around, trying to find what it was.  
“You think something is on fire? You realize that we are in a drought, right? It doesn’t take much for a small fire to become a disaster.”  
"Keep calm. I'm aware of that. I just hope if I wouldn't tell you I could keep you from panicking.” She had spotted where the smoke was rising. She bent down to rip off grass, and threw it into the wind to test wind direction and speed.  
Kennex took a deep breath to try and keep calm (though that was difficult.). “How in trouble are we?”  
"The wind should blow it away from us, so we can outrun it.”  
“Finally, a lucky break.” Kennex said with a sigh of relief.  
She awkwardly smiled at him. "Maybe, let's move anyways.”  
He nodded and followed her, trying to stay calm.  
She walked next to him and tried to help him calm down.  
Kennex kept walking, the seriousness of their situation finally sinking in for real. This was it—this was the end of the world.  
She just wanted to say something as she felt how the wind turned and started blowing stronger than before. Instinctively she grabbed his hand and fastened up.  
“Not good?” He asked, knowing the answer.  
"Not good!" she glanced back over her shoulder to check how much time they had. She tried to act calm and professional.  
She could see fire, flying sparks and smoke catching up on them.  
“Fuck!” Kennex yelled when he saw that.  
"OK, I take it back. We can't outrun it. Get to the ground."She took off her pack, looking for something.  
“If we can’t outrun it, what are we going to do?”  
"We will try to take cover. It's not guaranteed it will work but it is better than nothing." She pulled out a package. She unfolded it. It was a thermal blanket, a bit sturdier than the standard ones.  
“Take cover? You mean burn to death?”  
"It will reflect most of the heat. We did similar things when we fought wildfires in Russia." She looked back at the wall of fire heading towards them. "We don't have much of a choice.”  
A huge wall of flames came towards them, driven by the wind. They could already feel the heat it would be seconds until the fire had reached them.  
Kennex nodded, clearly worried but what choice did they have?  
"Okay, get to the ground." She extended the blanket and got ready to cover him and herself they were running out of time, the first dry bushes caught fire because of the sparks.  
He jumped to the ground, lying as low as possible.  
She lied down next to him, holding the blanket down with a foot and pulling it over them. She moved closer to him until they were practically hugging each other, so they were completely covered.  
Kennex was shaking a little. He had been unconscious during the earlier bombing, and running on adrenaline with the mobs. Now, he was fully awake and aware during this....and he was scared.  
A few seconds after she had covered them, they could hear the fire raging above them and Jurow burned the hand she was holding the blanket with. The other arm was wrapped around Kennex. She could feel him shaking. "It will be alright," she said to him, while keeping holding him and the blanket.  
Kennex pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her. “How long will it be?”  
"A minute max, I think.”  
“Okay, ” he whispered, starting to gasp a little.  
She was truly worried for him, she tried to stay cool but it was hard.  
After the sound of the fire had moved on she carefully lifted the blanket up. The main front was over things that could hold longer like trunks were still glowing and little fires were burning around them.  
She sat up. “it's over, John.”  
He didn’t initially respond, but soon started gasping for air.  
She pulled the blanket away from him and helped him sit up a bit in order to ease his breathing.  
He was shaking and gasping, but still alive, at least.  
She bent over him to check if something else was wrong. His pulse was sky high.  
Presumably he had been recovering from the smoke inhalation from the previous day, along with his other injuries it was a but much for his body to handle. “Are we alive?” he asked quietly.  
She nodded as she kept holding him, resting his head against her armoured chest.  
He looked at her, a little out of it. And then leaned in and kissed her square on the lips.  
Almost immediately after, he pulled away, blushing, and murmured “Sorry.”  
She actually was surprised, pleasantly surprised; she smiled. And then kissed him back.  
He blushed heavily when she did that, and smiled a little.  
She smiled as she leaned back again, "Do you feel any better?”  
“Yeah, a bit,” he said, smiling a bit.  
She extended her arm to help him up.  
He slowly got up, still shaky but doing better.  
She still held him, afraid that he could lose balance.  
“I’m okay,” he whispered, holding onto her and looking at the surroundings. “Oh my God, we’re still alive.”  
"We are!" She was relieved and happy. She carefully bent over to pick up the blanket, fold it up and pack it away again.  
Kennex noticed her hand and took it in his. “Are you okay?”  
"I will be," she smiled at him. "It's just second degree it will heal.”  
Without thinking, Kennex brought it up to his lips and kissed it. “.....we, Uh.....we should make sure this is clean at the next camp.”  
She nodded and smiled at him. She turned around to have a look at the fire again that was moving away from them.  
She looked at her hand, the blisters were still closed. "Maybe I should treat it now, before we run into more trouble..."  
“Good idea. What can I do to help?”  
"I think I'll manage," she said.  
She warmed up some alcohol to treat the burn and then wrapped her hand into a bandage.  
Kennex watched, concerned for her.  
After she was done and packed all the stuff away she smiled at him as if to say "no big deal", even though admittedly it hurt like hell.  
He tried to smile back but he still looked worried. He knew that had to hurt quite a bit.  
"Do we want to get going again?" she asked.  
“Sure....let me know if your hand feels worse.”  
"I will," she assured him. She just wasn't sure what he would be able to do to help her.  
Kennex looked around at his surroundings. Post fire, it looked even more like a wasteland....and he was surprised he even survived it  
"Hey. You alright?” she asked.  
“I’m just....I’m really happy to not be dead…” he said softly.  
"So am I. I don't know what I would have done if you died under my watch…”  
Kennex gave her a small smile. “Well....we made it....on to the next catastrophe, I guess.”  
"I hope not..." she looked around as they walked up a hill.  
“I wonder if anyone else got caught in the fire....”  
"Given that a lot of people left the city, i could have happened. But I really hope we were the only ones”  
Kennex nodded, looking a little pale.  
"How are you feeling?”  
“Overwhelmed by it all....”  
She understood this and nodded, she wrapped an arm around him to signal he wasn't alone.  
Kennex wrapped an arm around her and held her close. He was incredibly grateful to not be alone.  
Behind the hill something come into view, it seemed like they had reached the camp.


	4. Chapter 4

“Oh God, I never thought I’d be so happy to see people,” Kennex said softly.  
"Yeah," Jurow said, although worried as hell.  
“Come on.” Without thinking, he grabbed Jurow’s unhurt hand and started off to the camp. She didn’t fight it.   
The camp was large and with a huge military presence. When Kennex and Jurow got close, they were met by men with guns.  
Jurow stayed cool. She identified herself, showing her badge and hoped the soldiers were not up for any trouble.  
“She’s hurt. She burned her hand,” Kennex said, as if he wasn’t recovering from a concussion and wasn’t a walking bruise.  
“He has a concussion and a few wounds.”  
The guard looked Kennex over and raised an eyebrow. “If she’s hurt, then what are you, dead? You can come in and see a doctor, but you need to hand over your weapons.”  
Jurow could feel her pulse rising. She didn't know what to do she waited for Kennex to decide.  
Kennex raised an eyebrow. “What will happen to our weapons? Will we get them back if we leave?”  
Jurow liked that Kennex was thinking about leaving too.  
The soldier kept his stern face. “That's quite an interesting question.”  
"We both work for the LAPD. We are allowed to carry a gun (at least the last time I checked),” she told the soldier.   
“We’re law enforcement. We know how to use weapons,” Kennex added.   
The soldiers stared at them. “Look, no other camp is gonna let you carry your weapons. And frankly sir, you look like shit. You need a Doctor.”  
He already has one, Jurow thought, and she takes no shit.   
“Frankly sir, you are armed too,” she said seriously without any intent to mock him.   
“We’re in charge of this; we need to carry.”  
Kennex frowned. “Look, I’m fine with not carrying around civilians. But I want to make sure that if I leave this camp at any time, I will get every weapon and ever piece of ammo back.”  
Jurow nodded in agreement. She didn't like this at all, she regretted coming here already.   
The guard paused, and then nodded. “Alright, what are your names so we can ID them?”  
"Nataliya Jurow," she said hoping that he wouldn't figure out it was Russian, she had taken enough shit already. Even though she didn't like it, she handed him her gun.  
“John Kennex, ” Kennex said, firmly. “Her and I are both part of the LAPD, if there are any questions.”  
She said nothing and hoped to don't run into any trouble.   
As soon as they handed their guns over, they were sent to a medical tent.  
Jurow went with Kennex, feeling responsible for his well being. Also she was curious.   
The tent was of larger size. There were plenty of people waiting, so he found a place for them to sit.  
“What do you think about this place?” Kennex asked.   
She bent over to him in order to say this very quietly "I don't like It,”  
Kennex nodded in agreement.  
Jurow remained standing, for several reasons. For once there were not many seats left and someone else might be in a bigger need and second of all she wanted to have at least a little sense of control.  
Kennex stood up as well, he was stubborn enough to insist that he was alright, despite the evidence to the contrary.   
She frowned. "Please sit down." She was concerned. They had walked for quite a while and had almost been toasted, and he had passed out earlier.  
“What about you?” He asked, softly.  
"I just have a burned hand and I am in way better condition than you.” She answered.   
Kennex looked at her, worried, and then sat down. He was feeling a little dizzy....and the tent was hot.  
She whispered a soft "Thank you”.   
Sure some might ask why she did all this, she really liked him and she felt the need to protect him and care for him, even though he would reject it.  
Kennex gave her a smile and took her uninjured hand in his, squeezing it.  
She smiled back and then turned around to her left. Some kind of buzz was going on: Someone had collapsed and gone into a seizure not too far from Jurow and Kennex.  
She let go of Kennex and went to help, removing everything that could hurt the person or be a choking hazard. She then looked around to located the people in charge of this tent.  
When the seizure had stopped the patient still was unconscious. Jurow checked their pulse and breathing.  
Kennex found another doctor and lead them over to where Jurow was. She gave the doctor a quick statement to what had happened.  
Kennex stood there and tried to help as he could, even though he wasn’t medically trained.  
She asked the other doctor if he wanted to take over. Probably, she thought. She glanced at Kennex for a second, he was still standing there.   
The doctor took the sick person away, and Kennex moved closer. “You okay?”  
She nodded, she was okay, she felt good, alive.  
He smiled a little and went back to take a seat, feeling a bit better about himself that he wasn’t having a seizure.   
"Are you okay?" she asked.  
She stood next to him she still hoped to be out of here soon. She still couldn't believe this was really happening. War had found her and now was going to make her life in hell. This thought gave her chills.  
“Yeah....I’ll be fine.” He wrapped an arm around her, able to tell that she was not happy about this.  
She sat down next to him to hold his hand.   
They waited for quite some time until a nurse approached them. She asked Kennex to come with her.  
“Can she come too?” Kennex asked, all of a sudden. He wasn’t sure where this had came from, but he really wanted Jurow nearby.   
The nurse frowned but agreed. Jurow got up to follow them.  
“Thank you...” Kennex murmured, oddly submissive than his usual stubborn self.  
Jurow followed them behind a curtain. The nurse closed it. Jurow tried to stay as passive as possible.  
The nurse examined Kennex, and asked him what he had been through. He answered the best he could, and turned to Jurow in case he missed anything.  
Jurow didn't had to add a lot.   
“Who treated your leg?” the nurse asked.   
Kennex pointed to Jurow and gave her a small smile. He was oddly quiet, cause by his past in hospitals.   
The nurse seemed surprised. "Really? It's good work.”  
Jurow nodded politely: “Thank you.”  
“I’m lucky she found me, really lucky.” Kennex said to the nurse.   
"Yes, it really seems so," the nurse said. To Jurow she added: "What are you? Medic? Nurse?” Jurow sure looked like a SWAT officer and less like the above.   
“I'm a surgeon,” Jurow explained.   
The nurse raised an eyebrow at this accompanied by a facial expression that was hard to read.   
Kennex gave the nurse a small smile. “So, how am I doing?”  
"You have a concussion. We would like to keep you here for observation,” she answered.   
Jurow, who already had expected this, nodded with a frown.   
Kennex looked at Jurow, as if asking for help.  
"Is it OK when he stays with me and we don't leave the camp?" Jurow asked having notice Kennex' concerned face.  
"I can't allow that, it's protocol. But your friend can stay with you..." the nurse said to Kennex.   
“Would you mind, Jurow?”  
The doctor shook her head. "Not at all.”  
Kennex smiled, and was handed a pair of clean scrubs, as his normal clothes were pretty dirty and bloody.  
Jurow smiled back.  
The nurse showed where Kennex, where his bed was. In the back of tent and the only separation being a curtain.  
“You should get your hand looked at....”. He said, softly to Jurow as soon as they were alone.   
"It'll be ok” she said.   
“You sure? I don’t want to see anything happen to you....”  
"They'll ask how I got it. I don't want to lie to them. They'll believe I'm crazy, which is not that far from reality. ”  
Kennex pulled her closer to give her a hug.  
She hugged him back. She was glad about the comforting.  
"I promise you, that I won't leave you until this all is over." she said very quietly  
“Thank you,” he said, softly. “You… I like having you around.”  
Outside the curtain, a woman said to another nurse. “Oh, I’m Rachel. I was just assigned here. Nice to meet you.”  
Jurow turned around as she pulled away from Kennex and looked at the nurse who just had pushed the curtain aside to join them.   
The nurse, a beautiful woman who was a few years younger than Kennex and Jurow, entered. “Hi, I’m Rachel. I just started my shift so I wanted to make sure you all were okay.”  
Kennex looked at her, horrified. “Anna.”  
Jurow glanced back and forth between Kennex and the new person a few time. She could tell he was scared but what was going on?  
‘Rachel’ smiled. “I’m sorry?”  
“Don’t lie to me, Anna.” Kennex said, furious. “I was wondering if I’d ever find you.” His face went pale. “Who are you going to kill this time?”  
Jurow could tell that the woman was nervous then she noticed the suspicious bump at the nurses side. Jurow jumped forward to tackle her down, her brain had classified this nurse as a threat.   
The wannabe nurse reached for her gun as Kennex jumped to tackle her as well.   
In the chaos, a shot was fired.  
Jurow stayed lying on their attacker and shifting all her weight on her left lower arm and Anna's throat underneath it. She tried to figure out who was hit by the gunshot.   
Anna choked and tried to attack Jurow to her off, while Kennex tried to pin her arms back.  
A group of guards ran in at the sound of the shot.  
Jurow slightly decreased the reassure since she didn't want to kill Anna, just to keep her down and maybe knock her out.   
The guards ran in and grabbed the three of them, arresting them and handcuffing them.  
“What are you doing? She’s hurt!” Kennex said, pointing at a small wound on Jurow’s arm.  
Jurow was too much in battle mode to notice that she had been shot. She didn't resist when she was cuffed, since she had done nothing wrong, she had defend her life and Kennex'.   
The three were hauled off but Anna didn’t seem to concerned about it.  
Jurow tried to calm down to be able to explain the situation.  
Another guard came up to them, punched the other guard and freed Anna, leaving Kennex and Jurow there, in handcuffs.  
"What are you doing. She attacked us,” Jurow called out only realising that the other guard was probably one of Anna's buddies.   
Anna and her guard friend ran off as another guard came up and looked at Jurow and Kennex. “We don’t have a lot of tolerance for troublemakers, you two could have killed someone.”  
“We were the ones being attacked.” Kennex spat. “Your nurse and her friend are the real bad guys.”  
"We have the right to defend ourselves. She had the gun, she fired it. What do you expect? Would you allow yourself be killed?” Jurow said calmly.   
“Civil rights have been suspended since the first bombs fell....and we don’t have the resources to go after your accomplish.” The guard looked to his underling. “Take them out past the camp.”  
She couldn't really say anything, she knew what that meant. Negotiation would be useless.  
"I'm sorry John, my bad," she said, really sorry. She quietly cursed in her mother tongue.  
“We’re gonna die, aren’t we?” Kennex said, softly.  
"Yeah, they'll probably put us up against the wall. Shoot use outside the camp's borders.”  
“I’m sorry.....I got you into this....”  
"I'm not angry at you or anything. Friendly fire almost killed me once now it will kill me for real. Tell me one thing though. Who was that woman?”  
“She is the reason why I lost my leg, ten of my friends, and my sanity. She pretended to be a young designer named Anna, got me to fall in love with her, and then betrayed me.”  
"It's a shame she isn't killed along with us.”  
“Shut up!” The guard escorting then yelled.  
"Keep calm, buddy, I have been there,” Jurow said, knowing how it felt when you were sent to do an execution. She had never done it herself but she knew others very well who had to do it.


	5. Chapter 5

Jurow started to luxate her thumb on her right hand, it was burned already quite useless. This way she could use her hands but she folded them so the soldier wouldn't notice. She turned her head to make eye contact with Kennex. "Ninety-nine" she said like it was just a thought spoken out loud.  
Kennex nodded, swiftly turned, and kicked the guard in the knee with his fake leg, falling the man immediately.  
She swept down on the soldier, unarming him and using the moment of surprise to their advantage. Both landing on the dusty ground.   
Kennex might not have had use of his hands, but he made great use of his legs to take down their captors.  
She pointed the guards pistol against his head, she tried to find the keys with her other hand. That it hurt was making it more difficult. "Look, soldier, I don't want to kill you. I really don't want to. So don't make me," she said.  
The soldier nodded and put his hands up, clearly not wanting to die that day.  
She had found the keys then she moved down from the guy and ordered him to uncuff Kennex or else she would shoot him.   
In her opinion the soldier was a pussy. She had been taught that to die was to be preferred over falling into the enemy's hands.  
“Alright, Alright.” He freed them. “I was just following orders, Alright?”  
“That’s not a good answer.” Kennex said in a growl. “Now, where would our weapons be?”  
"Now I give the orders! Tell us where our weapons are!" it had been a while since she had last this tone of voice the last time. She kept the guards gun pointed against his head. The grip of her left hand was tight around the handle, her finger hovering at the trigger.   
The guard nodded and gave them very detailed information about where to find their gear.  
"John, cuff him," she said. She asked for it not order it.   
She faced another decision. The other guards would shoot the guard for letting them escape. She wasn't sure what to do about this. Except beat him unconscious but that would not be a guarantee for his safety.  
Kennex nodded and did so, feeling guilty about it though.  
"Now, do you have an idea how we could avoid that they shoot him for failing at his job?" she asked Kennex.  
“Smack him around a bit to make it look like he really tried hard?”  
"Yeah it is the only thing I can think of." She looked at the young man. "Really sorry, bro. It's the best chance you have. First answer me one question. Who is attacking this country?”  
“I don’t know. They won’t tell us grunts that. It’s just keep order among the civilian population, by whatever means necessary.”  
She raised her eyebrows slightly questioning their strategies but believing him.  
She hesitated a second before throwing the first punch.  
“I’m sorry...”. Kennex said softly, before punching him.  
She let him do it. "just don't over do it, " she said.  
Kennex stepped back and looked at Jurow. “Ready to go?”  
She nodded. She was fiddling with her thumb in order to get it back in place.  
Kennex nodded, and looked to see if anyone was coming by. “Let’s go.”  
The two started heading into the direction the soldier had given. Jurow tried to act norrmal so they wouldn't captured right away again.  
Kennex walked swiftly, wanted to get out of here soon.   
As they walked Jurow reached for his hand with her good left hand.   
Kennex grabbed her hand and squeezed it, looking at Jurow sadly. “I’m sorry....it’s my fault we got into this…”  
"I should have been stronger when I argued against it…”  
They arrived at the place and Jurow hope this would go smoothly.  
Kennex moved quickly, getting his and Jurow’s gear and putting on his body armor.  
She did the same being glad to be out of here soon.  
They were almost ready to go when a soldier found them. Leaping to action, Kennex took out his gun and aimed it him.  
“Listen, I didn’t fire a gun before and neither did she. The real criminal escaped with one of your men. But if you don’t let us leave, I absolutely will take you down.”  
Jurow kept her gun holstered, she was not planning to shot him. "You didn't see us. Just tell your commander you didn't see us. And let us go.“  
The soldier glared at Jurow, and moved to shoot at her but Kennex got him first.   
“Go!” he yelled, grabbing the rest of their stuff. “They can’t follow us too far!”  
She ran being sorry for the guy. She looked back to check if Kennex was behind her.  
He was, struggling a little but keeping up.  
She kept running until there was some distance between them and the camp. When they couldn’t run anymore, Kennex stopped and dropped to his knees. It had finally fully hit him that he shot a soldier, in defense of someone else, but still.  
Jurow looked back to check if someone was following and knelt down next to him.   
"Hey, you had no other choice.”   
He looked up at her, hyperventilating a bit. “You’re hurt,” he gasped, pointing at her arm.  
"I know, it's just a scratch." She wrapped her arms around him.  
Kennex looked at her for a moment, before cupping her face in his hands and kissing her hard on the lips.  
She kissed him back, enjoying the moment.  
He pulled away after a little while but stayed close, panting and looking at her like she was the most beautiful woman ever.  
“Let’s, ah, find a place where we won’t get killed,” he said.   
"That's a great idea." She gave him a brief smile and helped him up.  
He gratefully took that help. “We should probably go away from that camp maybe there’s a civilian group nearby.”  
"Yes. Good idea.”  
“Are you sure you’re okay, after all of that?” he was still concerned.   
"Right now I'm still too much in crisis mode to think about things too much. Right now, I'm just happy that you are still alive. And that I'm alive.”  
“Same.” He said with a small smile.  
"Maybe let's go and find a place that is easy to defend and provides a bit cover. So we can have a break.”  
“That sounds good to me.”

***

After walking for a few hours they found a fitting spot.  
“This looks good, what do you think?” Kennex asked her.   
"Should work." Jurow put her pack down. Her arm was hurting like hell, sure it was a gaze but her hand too was still burned.   
Kennex went to work making a makeshift camp. She helped him.  
After they were down she took her med kit to clean her wound.  
“How I can help?” He asked, looking worried.  
"I've got it, thanks.”  
“Okay, ” he said quietly. “Hey, um, if I ever do something you don’t like, please let me know.”  
She nodded.  
Kennex nodded and looked through his pack for something to eat. He found a protein bar and split it in two.  
“Here....doesn’t taste good but it’s something.”  
"Thanks", she smiled at him.  
She took a bite and then started looking for a fresh shirt, she knew she had packed a spare one.  
Kennex was in armor and the thin scrubs he was given at the camp. He went through his back, figuring he should probably find something else to wear.  
Jurow had already removed her vest to fix her arm. She found the spare shirt.  
“So, how bad was it before. I know you were in a horrible situation before.”  
"My home exploded. I had a struggle, mentally. This is like my worst nightmare. I lost my flatmate, I think she died.”  
Kennex reached out and put a hand on her back. “I’m sorry. When did that happen?”  
"Maybe two hours before I found you?”   
“Shit, I’m surprised you stopped to help me. I feel like most people would have kept going or something like that.”  
"You looked like you needed help. I already felt like a sissy running away not doing my job. I was home when I heard the first boom. So not on duty but still it feels wrong to just save your own butt.”  
“You can only do what you can and you can’t do anything for people when you’re dead.”  
She chuckled. "That's what Anton always said. He was scared that my recklessness and need to help people would get me killed." she shrugged. "I made it pretty far. I mean I got pretty old for being a reckless idot.”  
“Anton. Your partner?”  
"A friend and mentor when I was young.”  
“I guess he’s not in the city?”  
“No, he lives in the town where I grew up.”  
Kennex nodded. “In Russia, I guess?”  
She nodded.   
“I hope he’s safe and the attacks haven’t hit him yet.”   
"I don't think the town will be hit that hard. They don't have anything that would be a strategic target. Вut not like I can do anything from here. Just trying to do my part and maybe survive it.”  
“Yeah, that’s what we all have to do.”  
"Fuck", she said softly. Now that she was calming down everything was aching.  
“What’s wrong?”  
"I'm sore." She pulled off her shirt to put on the fresh one.  
“Shit, you’re black and blue.”  
"Not just my back, I have hematoma everywhere. My home exploded, the ceiling came down, I was almost entirely buried under the rubble.”  
She shrugged and put on the other shirt. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them.  
Kennex scooter over and wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin on top of her head.  
She stayed a while in that position before she started to move a bit. "You should get some sleep first.”  
“What about you?”  
"I'll be second.”  
“Okay....”. Kennex admitted he did feel very tired at the moment. “Wake me if you need anything.”   
He paused, and then gently kissed her cheek before going to lie down.  
She managed a small smile as she watched how he curled up.   
Kennex took the second shift and sat next to Jurow the whole time. She managed to sleep. She wasn't sure why she trusted Kennex like this.  
It had just hit him that in the short time he had known her, he had developed a fierce desire to protect her, to keep her safe (full knowing she was pretty capable of keeping herself safe.) He has never fallen for someone so fast, and it was equal parts scary and exhilarating.

-31st May 2048-

When Jurow woke up, Kennex got her a small bit of a protein bar. “I’ve been looking at our supplies of potable water....we’re not in danger yet but we should be on the lookout for more.  
She took it "Yes, only problem.. This is california. And I don't know if there is still running tap water”  
Suddenly there was a noise, a roar. Jurow knew the sound and stood up, looking up.  
“I wouldn’t trust the tap water anyway...”. He said as he looked up. “Holy shit!”  
A jet flew over their heads, pretty low and its was back on fire.  
They could how the pilot jumped off and how their parachute deployed to break their fall but they were too low above ground to open properly. The warm wind blew them over towards a pretty big group of trees where they dropped into. Only seconds later the jet hit the ground hard a few hundred meters from it and exploded immediately.  
Jurow geared up and grabbed her bag. "I suggest you stay here,” she said, since it was a Russian jet and she didn't want to Kennex into trouble.   
“Are you sure?” Kennex asked, worried.  
"To you it's the enemy who just crashed. To me it's just a human who needs help. If you can handle it, come and we check it out. But I will go.“  
“Alright. I’m going with you,” he said, making sure he could access a gun if needed but didn’t get it out yet.  
"Alright! Let’s go."   
She started running towards the trees. Kennex followed her, as fast as he could, hoping this wouldn’t be a mistake.   
The pilot was hanging on the trees, the chute caught up in the trees. She was still in her seat and hanging upside down.  
Kennex looked up at the trees and tried to figure out how to get up there with his fake leg. Obviously, it wouldn’t be easy.  
The pilot was not hanging too far up but she was pretty scratched up.  
Jurow couldn't tell if the pilot was conscious. She told her her name and that she was a doctor, also that she was armed but only trying to help (in Russian of course). While she figured out how to get her out of there.  
"John, can you lift me up a bit so I can cut her seatbelt? She will fall a few feet, but she's wearing a helmet and I see no other way to get her down.”  
Kennex nodded and helped Jurow up as far as he could. “Is that enough?”  
She was able to reach her. "Yeah." She started to cut through the seatbelt. It was a rater long process but after a minute or two the pilot was freed and dropped to the ground,  
Kennex helped Jurow to the ground and went to check on the pilot.


	6. Chapter 6

The pilot was conscious and in a panicky mode, in fact, she was scared to death.  
Jurow checked her pulse and then removed helmet and mask, very carefully and while explaining what she was doing.  
Kennex tried to speak to the pilot calmly, even though he didn’t know if the pilot understood English.  
"That's John," Jurow said to the pilot. " He doesn't know any Russian, but he just wants to help. “  
"What are you?" the pilot asked quietly. "Military?" probably as she was that they were in tactical armour.  
"Police," Jurow replied.  
“You’re outside Los Angeles.”  
"I know my position," the pilot said now in English.  
"Are you in pain," Jurow asked. But the pilot didn't answer.  
"I don't believe you," she said to Jurow back in Russian.  
"Look, comrade, do you remember from your training how to treat doctors? You must not harm or imprison them, but they have to help you? Yeah, that's what I'm doing so just answer my question or I just cut open your suit to check you over and risk that I miss something," Jurow didn't sound like she was kidding.  
The pilot finally got it and after a brief smile, she told Jurow her leg and chest was hurting.  
“Tell me what you need me to do,” Kennex said, softly.  
"I will, for now, let's try to don't upset her even more."  
She turned to the pilot. "What's your name?"  
"Alexandra." the pilot was too scared to give her her full name.  
Jurow opened her bag and pulled out a stethoscope "Okay, Sasha. I'll now listen to your chest, please just breathe normally.”  
Kennex sat there, waiting for instructions from Jurow and hoping the pilot wasn’t hurt too bad (though the chances weren’t good).  
The pilot probably had a few broken ribs and an open fracture on the leg.  
“What do we need to do, ‘Tasha....”. Kennex said quietly.  
"We will need to get her leg back into place. I know how we can do it but it will hurt a lot. I would like to take her to our camp for that.”  
“Alright....how are we going to carry her?”  
"We get a blanket a and use it as a hammock.”  
Kennex nodded and got a blanket out of his pack. He took his things with him in case they needed something.  
Meanwhile, Jurow had explained what she was going to do to the pilot. She was still very scared.  
They carefully moved the blanket under the pilot and then grabbed two corners of it each. It was obvious that this wasn't the first time Jurow did this.  
Kennex grabbed his two corners and followed Jurow back to the camp, making sure the pilot wasn’t in danger of falling out.  
When they arrived they carefully put her back down.  
Jurow kept trying to calm Alexandra down, she could imagine how she felt and why she mistrusted them.  
“What do you need me to do next?” Kennex asked, softly.  
"Maybe try to find something we can use as a splint to stabilise her leg.”  
“Okay....”. Kennex went through the gear and looked around for something like a long stick.  
“Would this work?” He came back with a felled branch.  
"Yeah, it has to...I'll have to give her local anaesthesia.”  
Kennex nodded. “You have that with you?”  
"Yeah but not much. I packed the hard stuff, I usually need at work. Haemorrhagic dressings, chest decompression, stuff like that, and the total basics for first aid, I didn't really plan for field trauma surgery. You will need to help me and I hope you are OK with blood and other things that usually let people freak out.”  
“I watched my own leg get blown off. Blood is no longer a problem.”  
"Oh damn. Well, that other part is good."  
She explained to him what he would have to do. Then she explained that same thing to Sasha. She had finally relaxed a bit but now she was a little more scared.  
“Sasha, I was trained for such things. I already did it many times,” Jurow told the younger Russian.  
“It’s gonna be okay....”. Kennex said when he realized Alex was scared. “She’s amazing.”  
Jurow mildly blushed. "Thank you."  
She started making injections to numb the leg.  
"I still don't believe you," Alexandra said in broken English.  
“She’s a doctor and she was in the army,” Kennex said to Alexandra. “At the very least, she knows way more about this than I do.”  
"But she said you two police. She doesn't act like police and her Russian is flawless. I have no idea how her English is..." Alex said to Kennex.  
“We are police now.....she is Russian and she was in the military before.”  
Alex still didn't really seem to be convinced.  
"I served in the Russian army, under Podpolovnik Utkin. I did two tours into the Middle East. I left Russia because I wanted a change and now here I am caught up between sides but still trying my best."  
Jurow tried to explain all this to her, to show that she trusted her. Maybe Alex would trust her back.  
Kennex nodded, hoping the pilot will trust them to save her.  
Alex seemed to be calming down a bit.  
Jurow asked her if her leg still hurt and she shook her head.  
For good measure, Jurow pinched her to test if the meds were working.  
Next, she cleaned the wound and the made sure the splint was ready before she told Kennex what he had to do to assist her with extension.  
He nodded and did so, his face calm.  
With his help, she got the leg back into the normal position and stabilised the bone. She then dressed the wound.  
“What do you need me to do now?”  
"Help me to put some stuff under her leg so the swelling wi be reduced.”  
Jurow looked at Alex, a bit concerned. It seemed her anxiety was gone. She had been very quiet during the procedure.  
Kennex nodded and did so. “Alex, are you okay?”  
"I wish I was home…”  
“Oh trust me, comrade. Same,” Jurow said softly.  
“I understand.I wish the same thing. Both Jurow’s and my apartments were destroyed.” Kennex explained.  
“I'm sorry for that, ” Sasha said quietly.  
“Hey, right now we’re all here and alive. Let’s focus on that.”  
"But all those people. And I helped destroy your city and you are still helping me…”  
“She’s a Doctor. It’s her job. And I’ve almost been killed by my own ‘side’. Now I’m just helping people.”  
"Makes sense..” She looked around. "Looks like you two were prepared to leave quickly."  
“I think we’re both a bit paranoid, given our past experiences.”  
"Oh... Sorry," she said.  
"You need rest," said Jurow to put an end to this conversation. She needed to talk to Kennex, privately.  
Kennex looked up at Jurow and nodded, trying to make Alex comfortable.  
Jurow checked her vitals again before standing up.  
Kennex stood up as well. “What’s up?”  
"Can we talk?”  
“Of course.” He said, concerned that he had done something wrong.  
"Don't worry you did nothing wrong. How do we solve the water problem? And if anyone finds us here, with a member of the Russian air force they'll shoot us right away. That's why kinda wanted to go alone to take full responsibility, I'm probably on the blacklist already.”?  
Kennex nodded and rubbed her shoulders. “I can go.....you stay with Alex.”  
Jurow raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? We have no way to communicate... What if you get into trouble?”She sounded very concerned.  
“I know....but Alex needs you immediately. Besides, you’re a doctor....if anyone’s expendable, it’s me.”  
“There’s a town not terribly far from here. There should be something....bottled water, an aquifer, something safe to drink.”  
She nodded. "You know I don't like It but you are right. She needs me."  
She hugged him and whispered an "I love you" into his hear.  
He hugged her back tightly and whispered “I love you too....and I’ll come back. I promise.”  
She opened the clasp of her helmet, took it off to hand it to him. "Here, be safe.”  
He nodded, turned to go....and then quickly turned back to kiss Jurow good-bye before leaving.  
She watched him leave and hope he would be alright. She sat down next to her comrade.  
“Are you two…?” Sasha asked.  
Jurow simply nodded.  
Sasha smiled. “I wish I were lucky, ” she said, looking up at Jurow.  
“What happened to your arm?”  
“I got shot,” Jurow answered.  
“Does it hurt?’  
“Like hell, but I was worse. I almost died on my second tour, it's why I left the army.”  
“When I get home, I will leave too. I just realised what we do to people.”  
“That's the right decision, kid, trust me,” Jurow said with a smile. She looked down at the blonde pilot, her eyes were closed now.  
“I'm tired, doc.”  
“Yeah, have some rest. I'll be right here.”  


***

It was well into the night, with no sign of Kennex....until Jurow and Alex could hear footsteps and the sound of a cart being pushed across the ground.  
Kennex has managed to get a lot of supplies and grabbed an old grocery cart to carry them since it wasn’t like the grocery store was in need of them anymore.  
Jurow relaxed as she noticed that it was him and not someone else. She got up to welcome him and help him.  
“You okay?” she asked as she saw how dirty and scraped up he was.  
Kennex nodded. “I found a store, the front entrance was caved in but I found a way to break in. I’ve got water, water clarifying tablets, rations.....everything I could get out before the building caved in more.”  
"I'm glad you made it out OK. Good job, getting the things. Thank you.” She hugged him and then kissed him.  
He kissed her back and held her tightly, relieved to see her again. “How’s Alex?”  
"the swelling went back but she is still far from OK. She is asleep. We won't be able to move a lot in the next week or two. Her leg will need at least six weeks until she can try to walk again. That is if she makes it.”  
“What else is wrong besides the broken leg?”  
"I'm not sure but she could also have a fractured rib. But I'm more worried about an infection. Her leg wound is very deep, I'm doing my best but the risk is high under those conditions.”  
Kennex nodded. “Yeah....but I’m sure you’re doing your best....and if there is anything I can do, let me know.”  
"I will. Now let me help you with the loot and then clean up and go to sleep.”  
“Okay....sounds good.” Kennex wheeled the cart closer so they could unpack.”  
She helped him with the unpacking. Watching his movements just to be sure he wasn't hurt.  
He was clearly exhausted, and a bit scratched up but wasn’t hurt. He managed to get out of the store before it caved in fully, but it was close.  
Jurow still was worried. After they were done she insisted that he went to sleep.  
Kennex didn’t fight that.... he was exhausted. He squeezed Jurow’s hand before going to make himself a bed.  
She stayed awake to do the first watch.


	7. Chapter 7

-1st June 2048-

The night passed without disturbances.  
Jurow was grateful when Kennex took over. After she had fallen asleep and slept for some time she began to stir. The events of the last day had brought up some things in her memory.  
Kennex saw Jurow toss and turn, and reached out to rub her back.  
The feel of Kennex touching her woke her. She was disoriented at first and a bit intimidated by Kennex bending over her.  
“Hey....it’s just me....you seemed distressed and I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”  
She nodded. Trying to focus on his voice and to think about something else.  
"Nothing you can provide. But thank you." she squeezed his hand.  
Kennex nodded and continued to hold her hand, concerned  
"Sorry," she said quietly as she laid back down, still holding onto his hand.  
At least there was someone. She wasn't alone. This was good.  
“I’ll be right here....”. Kennex whispered.  
“Okay,” she said trying to calm down and to get some more rest.  
Kennex kept close to her and rubbed her back to help her calm down.  
She needed quite some time but she managed to fall back asleep.  
Kennex stayed there, watching Jurow and Alex until daylight broke.  
Jurow woke up and felt like she didn't want to get up. ever. Her wounds were hurting and she felt like shattered by the things that had happened the last few days. She knew this was really going on, not just another one of her bad dream, she just needed to find a proper way to deal with it.  
Kennex saw Jurow was up and moved over to stroke her hair. “Hey.....good morning.”  
"Good morning," she sat up and gave him a kiss.  
He warmly kissed her back. “How are you feeling?”  
"Sore and tired. And you?”  
“Same.....” he looked in pain. “.....I’m getting phantom pains again....in my leg.” He said, tapping his prosthetic leg.  
"Not good. Maybe we take it easy today.”  
He nodded, looking tired.  
"If you want you can have another nap. I'll be around when Sasha wakes up. "  
She looked at the blonde woman. She was in her late twenties.  
Kennex nodded, grateful, and quickly fell asleep.  
Jurow smiled and stretched.  
Sasha was still asleep and looking pale and feverish.  
Jurow carefully moved over to her. She put her hand on Sasha's forehead, careful not intending to wake her up.  
Sasha groaned at Jurow’s touch. Her forehead was blazing hot.  
Jurow frowned and pulled her hand back. She started looking through her bag. She was not equipped to deal with a septic fever. This was heading in an unpleasant direction.  
She found something that would lower the fever a bit, but it was no real solution. She would need the right kind of antibiotics.  
Kennex was fast asleep but could be awakened if need be.  
Jurow went over to wake him.  
“What’s up?” Kennex asked, trying to wake up.  
She told him what was going on and that she needed to go to town and try to get the meds.  
“I can go....what do you need?”  
She looked for a small piece of the packaging to write down the names of two antibiotics. It would be easier so Kennex wouldn't have to remember.  
“I’ll go as fast as I can.”  
"Thanks." she gave him a kiss. “I appreciate your effort. “  
"If you find painkillers. Those won't hurt to have. “  
“Got it. I’ll go as fast as I can.”  
"Be safe.”

***

Kennex was gone for several hours and came back looking utterly exhausted. But, he had found what he was looking for, and other medicines they could use.  
Jurow was relieved to see him. While he had been gone she had made sure that Sasha had drunk enough water, even though it was very hard to compensate for the amount of fluids she was loosing.  
Sasha's heart rate was freaking fast and she was already in a confused state of mind.  
“How’s she doing?” Kennex asked, knowing the answer was “bad.”  
"Not good.”  
“Shit....well, I got the medicine…”  
"Good. Can you help me sit her up? Carefully.”  
Kennex nodded and did so. “Hey, It’s Okay....”. He said softly.  
"Hey, Kennex got your medicine. But you need to swallow these for me, " Jurow spoke Russian, hoping Sasha will be able to understand her better that way.  
Jurow helped her take her medicine.  
Kennex watched, worried, and hoping Sasha could do this.  
Sasha swallowed.  
"got it?" Jurow asked.  
Sasha nodded.  
"Sure?"  
Sasha nodded again.  
Kennex could tell she was very worried but tried to be optimistic.  
“That should help,” Kennex said with a smile.  
Jurow felt Sasha's pulse, it was still high. The meds would take at least an hour to show any significant changes. Normally antibiotics were given IV in those critical situations but they hadn't the conditions and resources.  
“What do you need me to do, ‘Tasha....?”  
"Have some rest, be patient. We can just wait now.”  
“Okay,” Kennex hugged Jurow tightly.  
"Thanks for your help. How's your leg?”  
“I’m trying to not focus on it. I keep imagining the feeling of my leg being blown off.”  
"Even though it sounds funny... Lie down, try to relax. The chances someone finds us out here are almost zero.”  
“Stay with me?”  
"Sure," she tried to smile.  
He smiled a little, feeling a bit calmer knowing she was there.  
"I'm right here, I can't leave you two alone like this." she gave him a hair ruffle.  
Sasha started to move, she had trouble breathing. She called Jurow’s name as loud as she could.  
Jurow moved over as quick as she could. Sitting her up a bit, what should help her. This was not good. Normally Sasha's state should improve not worsen. Part of her knew that there was almost nothing left to do now, except to make it easier.  
Kennex sat up and moved closer. Something told him that this was it, that Sasha didn’t have long to go.  
“Hey,” Kennex said, moving to Sasha. “It’s okay....what do you need me to do.”  
"Her organs are failing," Jurow said quietly to Kennex.  
Sasha knew that something was wrong she was confused and scared.  
Jurow asked what she needed. "A hug”.  
Kennex nodded and moved over, giving Sasha a hug. “It’s okay...Natasha and I’ve got you…”  
"Yeah, we are here for you," Jurow said quietly.  
"At least it is better than exploding in my jet. I wouldn't have met you two.” Sasha whispered.  
Kennex nodded, and rubbed Sasha’s back, trying to keep her calm and comfortable.  
Jurow held her hand. "If you want I can give you something that will help you calm down and sleep. I'm sorry I can't do more. “  
Sasha nodded and looked up at Kennex and Jurow. “Thank you for saving me, comrade, even though I helped to kill your friends, and destroyed your home. Thank you two for being with me,” she tried to sleep.  
Jurow smiled back at her, while she filled a syringe.  
Kennex stayed with Sasha, talking to her and trying to keep her calm.  
Jurow really didn't need long and then returned to inject Sasha and stay there to comfort her. She was truly surprised about Kennex' bedside manner. He was really good at this.  
All Kennex was thinking of was when his mother was dying, and his attempts to keep her spirits up.  
The last time Jurow had lost a comrade, it had been her husband. The same situation of being there but not being good enough to save them. Okay, admittedly it had been worse back then. But Jurow hated nothing more than losing a patient.  
Kennex watched as Sasha started to fall asleep, and realized the woman likely wouldn’t wake up.  
Jurow reached for Kennex' hand with the other one she was holding Sasha.  
“Reminds me of how my mom died....”. He said softly.  
"You can share it with me if it helps…”  
“.....my dad died first. He was a cop and he was killed on the job. My mom never really recovered from that.” He went quiet. “She was diagnosed with cancer a year later.....I knew before the doctors did that she wasn’t gonna make it. She had just lost the fight in her.”  
She squeezed his hand. "It happens more often than you might think that people want to join their loved ones. They lose any reason to be.”  
“That’s how it was for her. You can tell all the life left her when we found out......and she never recovered.”  
"I'm sorry," she frowned.  
Kennex reached out and held her hand, quietly  
"I was married. Like me, he was in the army, special ops. On my last tour, I got called out into the field because of a basket case. It was my husbands' squad, I didn't know until I was actually there at the scene. I knew that he was in the country too but not actually in the same area. As it turned out my major knew that it was my husband, but he kinda thought that I could handle it. Well, the same night my husband died. He died because I wasn't able to save him. I kept working. I kept going. The next day my medic and I were called out again, a soldier broke his ankle. And again I failed we practically ran into an ambush, one of the rookies panicked shot me and only seconds later we were blown up by a grenade. I remembered that I wanted to cover my medic and the wounded soldier. When I woke up I was home. I had to pull all strings to be able to travel to my hometown to be there when they buried my husband.”  
Kennex listened, a few tears in his eyes, and he pulled Jurow into a tight hug. He said nothing at first—he didn’t know what to say that would mean anything to her. Finally, he murmured “I’m sorry....I’m so sorry…”  
She leaned onto him. Not saying anything. "So now you know why I'm so crazy…”  
“No, you’re not crazy...not at all.” He kissed her forehead. “You’re amazingly strong....the strongest person I know, by far.”  
"Thanks. You are the first one to be of this opinion. But what I heard from your past. I'm surprised they allowed you back on active duty.”  
“.....there’s a reason for this. Do you remember Anna, the woman who tried to kill us? She is, or was, or who knows, part of a gang called InSyndicate. When I was physically ready to return to work, my boss knew that InSyndicate had infiltrated the department....and that, despite my flaws, I was the only detective that could not be bought by them, and that I had a desire to stop them.”  
"Sounds like your boss is very smart. What do you think is happening to the gang now?“  
“I don’t know… I would think the bombs would have attacked them like everyone else.”  
"I hope they are scattered and won't be a problem. And I hope we don't have to meet your ex ever again, ‘cause when I see her, I will kill her. ”  
“Same,” He murmured, still holding onto Jurow.  
She kissed him. "I'm glad I met you.”  
Kennex kissed her back and smiled at her. “I’m glad to have met you too… and that you’ve stuck around.”  
"I think we are stronger together."  
She looked at Sasha, who was resting peacefully. "What will we do with her?”  
“I don’t want to just leave her if.....when....she passes. Maybe we can dig a grave?”  
"We definitely should bury her and pay her respect. I wonder if she has a family... They will never know what happened."  
“I know....that hurts to think about.”  
She reached for Sasha's hand. It was colder than before. Jurow closed her eyes and her hand wandered up a bit to feel Sasha's pulse.  
Jurow stayed about a minute like that, saying nothing, keeping her fingers at the pulse point.  
Then she turned to Kennex. "She's gone," she said quietly.  
Kennex nodded a stray tear in his eye. “I’m sorry, Sasha.....”. He said, quietly  
"She had no pain. If someone should be sorry... It should be me. For not being able to help her." Jurow folded Sasha's hands over her chest  
“You did all you could....”. Kennex said, leaning over to kiss Jurow’s cheek.  
"There is always something you can do..”  
She leaned onto Kennex, a tear rolling down her cheek. "And I thought I have been useful for once…”  
Kennex hugged her tightly. “You were useful.... you made it so her last moments were in peace. And for a doctor in wartime without the usual equipment? I’m no expert, but I think you did a job.”  
"I tried...” she said her voice breaking.  
Kennex cupped her chin and looked her in the eyes. “And sometimes that’s all you can do....”. He murmured before kissing her softly.  
"I hate it," she whispered after kissing him back. "Let's get to work."  
Kennex nodded and went to find tools to dig a grave with. Meanwhile, Jurow got up and wrote down the I for on Sasha's dog tag on a piece of paper. Then she got up to look for a good spot to bury Sasha.  
Kennex was able to fix up some make-shift tools and met up with Jurow. “Here, that should work.”  
"Looks good. I'll help you. We just should make sure it's deep enough. I don't want animals to dig for her…”  
Kennex nodded and started digging. He was already physically and emotionally exhausted, and as he dug a few tears ran down his face.  
She helped him, barely able to stop herself from crying, she knew that after that both would need rest.  
When they dug about six feet or so, Kennex wrapped Sasha up in the blanket and carried her to the grave.  
Jurow made sure she lied in the right position and her feet faced East before she claimed out to stand there next to Kennex. She didn't know what to say.  
“I’m sorry....”. Kennex’ voice cracked. “I should have been faster with the medicine. Sasha.....I’m not religious by any sense, but I hope you’re in a much better place.”  
"Yeah. I hope so too'" her voice cracked too. She reached for Kennex' hand to squeeze it. "I'm sorry, tovarisch."  
Kennex squeezes her hand back. “Let’s finish this, so the animals don’t go after her remains.”  
"Yeah," Jurow grabbed her tool again to start shovelling the soil onto her.  
Kennex was definitely crying as he buried Sasha, but he wouldn’t let it slow him down.  
In Jurow’s opinion, it was alright to cry. And she couldn't stop it from happening by herself. She kept working. Where was the professional distance gone? Normal it didn't hurt her that much when she lost someone on the job. Admittedly she turned most people over to a hospital and they died there or they died right at the scene.  
When they finished, Kennex made a small marker with some of the debris from the downed plane. After that, he walked over and hugged Jurow tightly.  
“Thank you, for your support. “She hugged him tightly. "It's still the bright of the day, maybe we should both lie down and get some rest. I can tell you are barely able to stand..."  
“In the town, I was in, there were some buildings that were standing....it would provide cover from the elements and anyone who would come after us.  
"Sounds like a plan. Is it far?”  
“It’s a decent walk, but not bad. And we won’t be in a rush now....”. He said softly.  
"Yeah. Okay. Let's pack our stuff.”  
“At least we have the cart now...”. He said with a small smile.  
"That chart was a great idea of yours. I haven't said that yet, haven't I?" she smiled back very briefly.  
“Thank you.....I’m glad I could find one that wasn't scrap-metal.”  
She smiled at him. Before starting to pack up their things until there was no sign left they had been even there.


	8. Chapter 8

Kennex led her towards the town, trying to go at a steady pace. As he said, most of it was destroyed, but there were some sheds and garages still standing.  
She was quite happy when they found something that would work out as a shelter.  
It was a detached garage located behind a damaged house—the house had been positioned in just the right place to shield the garage from major damage.  
Inside it was mostly empty—whoever lived there must have evacuated by car.  
Jurow tried if the door was able to close perfectly.  
"I think we should stay here. Block the door. We should be relatively saved.”  
“Sounds good.” Kennex got their gear in and got to work closing up the garage  
She tried to assist him as best as possible.  
“I'm exhausted,” Kennex said. “I’m gonna need to get some sleep soon.”  
"I just wanted to propose that.”  
Kennex nodded and, once he finished shutting up the garage, he used whatever they had to make up a bed on the floor. Once that was gone, he pulled off his outer gear, sat down, and removed his prosthetic leg for the first time in what felt like ages.  
She also prepared her makeshift bed next to him and took off her gear.  
"You really seem to trust me... “ she hummed with a smile.  
“Yeah.....I do.....”  
"I trust you too," she smiled and lied down.  
Kennex grinned and curled up close to her. “Besides..... I wouldn’t have made it six hours without you.”  
"I'm sure every other cop would have stopped to help.."  
“Yeah.....but that doesn’t negate the fact that you did…”  
"Yeah,” She reached for his hand.  
He squeezed it and smiled at her, beginning to nod off.  
She moved a bit closer so they were cuddling.  
Kennex wrapped his arms around her and rested his forehead against hers,“...love you...”. He whispers as he fell asleep.  
"I love you too," she whispered back, also starting to nod off.

-2nd June 2048-

Overnight, it rained across the area but not normal rain. Brief exposure could cause irritation and rashes longer exposure, and things went downhill fast.  
When Jurow woke up she could feel Kennex behind her, clinging onto her from behind. It was comforting to feel his warmth. She felt a bit better than yesterday but still very sore.  
Kennex was still fast asleep and looked amazingly peaceful as he did so. And extremely cute. Jurow started wondering how this had happened. She had never fallen in love like that. In fact, she had fallen in love just two times. Back then with Dima. And now she had fallen for Kennex.  
After a few minutes, Kennex started to stir. When he saw Jurow was still there, he smiled brightly.  
She turned to him to give him a kiss. "Good morning.”  
He kissed her back. “Morning....how did you sleep?”  
"Quite good. You?”  
“Like a log.” He said with a small smile. He heard some raindrops dripping from the roof. “Did it rain last night?”  
She listed. "sounds like it." she got up to check through the small window.  
It had rained, but not water. The grass was a dark brown, and the nearby tree that had somewhat survived the earlier blast was now dead.  
Jurow went pale. When she had studied for becoming an officer she had been told that there also existed other ways of warfare than just shooting people with guns or killing them with missiles. Biological, nuclear and chemical weapons. By the look of the died plants, most likely the latter.  
“‘Tasha? What’s wrong?” Kennex went to put on his prosthetic so he could walk over.  
She didn't know what to say except. "Something happened.”  
Kennex walked over and he went pale as soon as he looked outside. “Oh, Shit....”  
"We definitely should stay inside..."  
“Yeah.....”. He squinted and looked outside. “.....Is that a person?”  
She noticed the human figure too, bent over it was slowly shuffling down the way. "Seems like one…”  
The figure slowly shambled closer, and Kennex’ eyes went wide. “‘Tasha, zombies don’t exist, right?”  
"Not that I know of, no. But you are right, that guy doesn't look normal.”  
The way he walked reminded them of someone who had too much alcohol but there were wounds all over the person's exposed skin. His face was burned and swollen badly.  
She subconsciously took a step back from the window and grabbed Kennex' hand.  
Kennex walked back with her, frowning. He looked around, making sure the doors were locked.  
"I'm scared," she confessed quietly.  
“Me too,” he whispered, squeezing her hand.  
"Let's hope he is alone and won't get in," she whispered.  
Kennex nodded and waited, trying not to have a panic attack.  
She pulled him to her, hugging him and holding him tight. "It will be alright. It is OK to be scared.”  
He kept clinging onto her, panicking.  
“Sit down,” she carefully helped him sit down on their makeshift bed and put a blanket around his shoulders.  
Jurow reached for her gun and her belt.  
Kennex was shaking, but still, he bent over to get a gun and made sure it was loaded.  
They could hear how the person was in front of the garage door and how he started to scratch on the door.  
“How does he even know we are in here?” she asked quietly as she sat down next to him again.  
She checked Kennex over if he was alright.  
He was panicking, shaking but at least he had the sense to put the gun down. He was close to hyperventilating.  
He was swearing under his breath, his thoughts going crazy. Maybe he shouldn’t be here, maybe he should have died with his team.  
Jurow was keeping an eye on the door. She could tell he was not alright. "Hey, Kennex. We are okay. We are safe. I'll make sure we are and I'm so glad I'm not alone.”  
“We aren't,” he said in a whisper, breathing hard, he looked broken.  
She wrapped an arm around. “Come on let's breathe together. In…” she inhaled, “... and out,” she exhaled slowly. Hoping he would follow along.  
He nodded and tried. They did this for a few minutes until his breathing patterns had normalised.  
She kept holding him, in an attempt to comfort him. She was more worried about him than the creature outside.  
“What are we going to do about that guy?” Kennex asked after a while.  
“We wait until he leaves, if he doesn't we can still shoot him. Though that could attract unwanted attention.”  
Kennex nodded, he was still shaking a bit. “Maybe he will realise we won't come out and move on.”  
“Yes. That's what I'm hoping for. You know, if he was intelligent he would have tried to get us out. But he is just waiting for us. Maybe he is only driven by his animal instincts. “  
“Like a zombie,” he said quietly,” I will shut up about zombies.”  
“One thing’s for sure, I have never seen anything like it.”  
“Do you think it is because what fell from the sky?” Kennex asked, pulling his blanket closer around him. “I mean this guy is in terrible shape.”  
Jurow’s thoughts were about to go nuts. “I hope. If it is in the air, we might join him soon.”  
He nodded and took another blanket.  
“You cold?” Jurow asked, worried.  
“A little,” Kennex answered softly.  
She covered his legs with her blanket and handed him something to eat.  
He took it and ate it, scaring it down in an instant.  
She watched him, hoping he was not running a fever.  
Thankfully it was not the case, he was just hungry and suffering from low blood sugar, that could have lead to the panic attack.  
She made sure he ate and that he stayed hydrated.  
A little later, he seemed to be doing better already.  
“How are you feeling? “ she asked him.  
“Better, thank you.” He gave her a shaky smile.  
“Always.”  
He leaned over to hug her and she kept holding him a bit longer.  
Suddenly the scratching on the door stopped and the two could hear footsteps going away. And then a scream from the nearby street.  
Jurow jumped up, her need to help, defeated her fear of what had caused this guy to turn.  
She ran to the window to see what was going on.  
The ‘zombie’ had made run for a woman, who was limping down the street.  
Jurow ran to the door pushing the storage unit away and unlocking the door. She closed the door behind her and drew her gun. She had to goal to shot the zombie down before it would have attacked the woman. Kennex followed behind her, adrenaline pumping through him, he only needed to help and ignore his anxiety.  
“Police, stop,” Jurow called out, her gun raised at the creature.  
The zombie did not react, instead, he grabbed the woman and started eating her.  
Jurow fired her gun, hitting the zombie's back, no effect whatsoever. fired too, a blow to the zombie's head and he fell to the ground. And with him the mortally wounded woman who as bleeding out at an enormous rate.  
It was too late.  
Jurow went to check if the threat was neutralised.  
The zombie twitched quite a bit and pulled Jurow back so it wouldn’t try to bite her. “Shoot it again?”  
She shot the zombie into the head, one more time. It stopped moving.  
And so did the woman.  
"That was..." Jurow started realising what just had happened. It was the first time since the war had started that she had shot _anything_.  
She locked eyes with, realising that she had just broken her own rule about not going outside. For nothing. The woman was dead. And they were out in the open and possibly exposed to whatever this was.  
But Kennex had already grabbed her arm and pulled her back inside the garage. She didn't resist at all.  
“Are you okay?” he asked her.  
She nodded even though she was not. Wordlessly she secured and holstered her gun.  
Kennex cupped her face in her hands, looking at her worriedly.  
She didn't know how to deal with this kind of danger, except what she had been told over a decade ago in the army. They didn't know anything about it. And if they did they were not equipped to withstand with chemical or biological weapons.  
She hated this.  
“We’re safe now, okay? You did what you could—and now we know for sure those things are no good.”  
"But we aren't safe. Besides we can't stay in here forever. This place doesn't even have a toilet.”  
“What do you want to do? Keep moving?”  
“I don't know. For now, we should stay here, I think. I don't know if it safe to be outside.”  
He nodded and pulled her into a hug.  
She took a deep breath and then gave into it, relaxing slightly.  
“I'm sorry, “ she whispered.  
“Don't be. You are sound amazing. “  
"Why couldn’t have I met you in times of peace?” she asked a bit sad  
“I wish I had met you before Anna, ” he said with a sigh. “Well, we’re not dead yet.”  
“We aren't. But I don't really see why I should keep trying.”  
“We can’t be the only ones here who aren’t zombies. There might be others. And the whole planet can’t be destroyed.”  
“Damn, I came to the US because I was sick of War and being reminded of it, “ she said, sounding unhappy with herself.  
“And I stayed in LA because I didn't want to go to war. “  
“.... But here we are.” She added.  
“I’m not saying everything doesn’t suck, because it does. But I’m so glad to have met you,” he said, softly.  
"So am I. You know, part of me wants to fight. And the other part feels old. I was a fighter when I was young, war broke me. I don't even know why I'm still standing.”  
“I'm here now. You don't have to go through this alone.”  
She frowned. "No offence but you are like me. Not in the condition to really get through this.”  
“Alone, maybe. Together....we might just have a chance.”  
"Yeah, we might.”  
gave her a small smile and kissed her forehead. “I’m willing to try....as long as you’re here.”  
"So am I." She was trying not to cry.  
“I love you....”. He whispered, before going in for a kiss.  
She kissed him back.  
She tried to don't think about what was going on and to enjoy her time with him.  
He kissed her warmly, holding her tightly.


	9. Chapter 9

-3rd June 2048-

The streets had dried off. And Jurow decided to start moving again. She felt a lot better. Her wounds were healing and the soreness was better than the day before.  
Kennex was packing up their gear into backpacks and the shopping cart. He had definitely gotten a good sleep that night after he and Jurow had “upgraded” their relationship.  
Now, Jurow was putting on her gear before helping him pack.  
“Any idea where to go next?” He asked, looking at the map in front of him, trying to figure out their best path out.  
"I would go north.” She pointed at the map.” Avoid the city and the highway. There are other small towns that could be mostly intact.”  
“That sounds good, we also want to avoid the military.”  
She nodded and he folded the map and packed it away.  
Kennex padded her back. “Ready to go?”  
“Yes, I am.” She looked around to be sure they hadn't forgotten anything.  
Outside the puddles of the rain had dried. It was sad to see how all of the plants had died.  
Around them almost no building was still intact, most buildings were in very bad shape. The cars that were left in the streets had been on fire and were nothing more than grey, burned-out skeletons, now.  
Debris had fallen onto the pavements and it was almost impossible to walk there, even the streets were partially covered in it, the explosions had been so strong that debris had been spread everywhere.  
Every corner of the streets was covered in a thin layer of dust and there still were fires burning in between the ruins. Smoke was rising into the sky.  
The two always stayed close to each other and they were constantly on the watch. On there way out of the town they saw another group of zombies but managed to avoid engaging them.  
Leaving town, Jurow and Kennex had to walk through the desert in order to avoid major roads.

***

After the two had walked for a few hours, they could see another settlement, nothing more than a bigger village or a small town. And as they came closer they could see tents and a few parked cars. It seemed to be a camp.  
“Do you want to risk it?” Kennex asked. “It seems to be civilian.”  
Jurow nodded. “Maybe we can be of help there.”  
“Yeah, let’s go and try not to seem threatening.”  
“I’ll do my best,” she said with a smile.  
Kennex walked on, pushing their chart ahead. He didn’t have any weapons out but he could them if he wanted.  
As they moved closer, they could see a small figure leave the camp and walk towards them, holding a large shotgun.  
Jurow stopped, she had identified the person as a potential threat. She grabbed Kennex’ arm to get him to stop too. He froze and squinted, trying to figure out who was coming at them.  
The person was short, a middle-aged woman, who nevertheless looked like could kick some ass. She held the gun but didn’t aim at them. “State your names, if you’re not one of those creatures,” she said.  
Kennex’ eyes boggled. “Sandra?”  
Jurow consciously kept her hands away from her gun. “Nataliya Jurow,” she said and turned to Kennex, surprised that he knew the woman.  
Kennex had put his hands up. “Sandra, it’s me. It’s John Kennex.”  
“Prove it. What did you do for your fortieth birthday?”  
Kennex looked at her, confused. “I don’t know, Sandra. I was in a fucking coma.”  
Sandra paused and then smiled, lowering her gun.  
Jurow seemed to relax. She didn’t say anything, though.  
Sandra went over to hug Kennex.”Shit. I thought you were dead.”  
“Thank Natasha,” he said. “She’s the only reason I’m here.” Kennex looked at Jurow and smiled.  
“I found him a bit away from the trouble, pretty scratched up, he had a concussion and his synthetic leg was damaged,” Jurow told Sandra.  
Sandra looked down and say Kennex’ runners' blade. “I was wondering how you were getting around.” She looked at him and Jurow and smiled a bit, clearly pick up on something. “Come on you two, there’s plenty of room in our camp.”  
Jurow was not sure who Sandra was and how she related to Kennex. The two seemed to be friends, at least. She followed her and Kennex.  
“Nat, this is Sandra Maldonado, she’s my boss at the force. I’ve known her for years,” Kennex explained as he saw Jurow’s expression.  
Maldonado looked at Jurow. “You are with the medical examiner’s office, aren’t you?”  
“No, ma’am. I’m SWAT,” Jurow paused. “Uhm… You know me?”  
“I’ve heard great things about you. You are a doctor, right? We really need one.”  
“That’s right, ma’am.”  
“There was a chemical attack yesterday night. It looked pretty sporadic. It burned you if you got caught in it, too much and it really fucked up your brain.”  
“I know, ma’am. We were in the area where it happened. And we 'met' a person that brain had been fucked up, we saw what they can do.”  
“They are zombies, Sandra,” Kennex said seriously.  
Maldonado rolled her eyes. “Ugh, go talk to Rudy about zombies. He’s been annoying the hell out of everyone.”  
“I think it is a fitting name…” Jurow murmured.  
“See!” Kennex smiled at Jurow.  
Maldonado rolled her eyes again. “Come on John, you will probably recognise a few faces here.”  
Jurow resisted the urge to take Kennex’ hand. She felt like he to be relieved, learning that a few of his colleagues were alright.  
He, however, pretty quickly took hers and squeezed it. She squeezed it back.  
Maldonado saw this and smiled.  
As the three walked in, they were met by a short man with an arm in a sling and a broken nose. “Sandra,” he said. “Are you sure we can trust them?” As it would turn out Richard Paul was a dork. He was nervous and probably at the riots too.  
Maldonado rolled her eyes. “It’s John and Dr Jurow from SWAT. Calm down, Richard.” She looked at Jurow and said, “Richard took some hard hits at the riot. There was another detective there, Valerie, but she’s healing very well.”  
“Have they been checked over,” Jurow wanted to know.  
“As best as we can by a paramedic, but you are the first doctor we met. And, said she is hurt herself. I’m sorry to give you work the second you arrive, but we could really use your help.”  
Jurow raised her hands and shook her head. “No, no. I’m glad I can make myself useful.”  
Maldonado’s eyebrows shot up as she turned to Kennex. “Oh, I almost forgot: We recovered Dorian. Rudy is trying to fix him now.”  
Kennex’ face lit up. “Where is he now? Can I see him?”  
Jurow remembered Dorian, he was the partner Kennex had asked for when she had found him.  
Maldonado told Kennex where. And he dragged Jurow to a small mechanic’s shed in the town turned camp.  
Inside, a blond, somewhat raggedy man was working on a DRN unit. The unit was turned off, but it was in surprisingly one piece after the attacks.  
Jurow stayed with Kennex, but she was nervous.  
The man turned around and jumped a little. “John! You’re alive!” he called out, happily. He had a British accent. Then, he turned to Jurow and waved a little.  
“That’s Dorian,” Kennex said and pointed at the DRN.  
“He’s your partner?” she asked, a bit surprised. “...and I wondered how you could possibly get along with an MX.”  
“Yeah, I had an MX, we didn’t get along well. He … uh … fell out of a moving car.”  
Rudy rolled his eyes at that. “Dorian was the only unit intact after the riots. Sandra suggested we take him since he’d be a great help as he tries to find a more permanent place. Plus he helped saved several cops.”  
Jurow nodded. “How will you charge him?” she asked, knowing that this could be an issue.  
“I’m working on that,” Rudy answered, “I’m making some changes to how he processes power and I’m going to try and add solar chips.”  
She nodded and then looked at Kennex. He looked emotional.  
Dorian might have been a DRN, but he was basically his best friend.  
Jurow now started to understand how close the two were. She squeezed Kennex’ hand. “Rudy will fix him. I know it.”  
Kennex looked at her and gave her a small smile. a  
“If you don’t mind, I would like to check on the injured people the Captain mentioned, now,” she said.  
“Go ahead. Do you need me to help you with anything?” he asked. He wanted to be with her.  
“Sure. I could use a helping pair of hands,” she said with a smile.  
“Sounds good.” Kennex waved good-bye to Rudy and asked him to keep him posted on Dorian.  
As they stepped outside, Jurow looked around to see where she was needed. Maldonado had gathered some of the injured people for Jurow to take a look at. Richard Paul was one of them, along with a pretty, brunette woman.  
Jurow started with those who were hurt the most. There were a few people with burns from the poison rain, but they seemed to be sane, and not zombies at the moment. She made sure their wounds were cleaned and covered with a sterile dressing.  
Kennex got supplies for her and tried to help talk down some of the more nervous patients.  
Jurow really appreciated the help.  
When they were done with the burn victims, she had a look at Detective Richard Paul. His nose had been treated properly already and the paramedic had already stabilised his arm.  
“So…” Paul started, “... I’m surprised you came here with Kennex. If I were stuck with him, I would have killed him within a day.”  
“What kind of issues do you have with him when you speak of such radical actions?” Jurow asked the detective with a serious face.  
“He’s a pain in the ass,” Paul grumbled.  
“So are you, Richard,” Kennex said, bringing Jurow some supplies and a bottle of water for her to drink.  
“Haven’t noticed anything of that yet. Maybe you are just jealous of the fact that he is a strong and smart guy,” she said to Paul without changing her facial expression.  
Kennex beamed while Paul frowned and shook his head. “Not that strong…”  
“It’s a shame getting smacked in the face didn’t give you a new personality, Richard,” the brunette woman said to Paul.  
"Wow, you seem to be the best working team I have ever seen," the sarcasm in Jurow’s voice was impossible to miss.  
Kennex and the woman laughed a bit, while Paul rolled his eyes some more.  
“Alright, Detective Paul, you are dismissed. Who’s next?”  
The brunette woman looked around to see who was in line and eventually stepped up when no one volunteered. “I’m Detective Valerie Stahl. And I’m feeling a lot better. But Sandra insisted I get checked out.”  
"Pleased to meet you, Detective. I’m Doctor Natasha Jurow," Jurow started to check her over, "When did this happen?"  
“Same time as Richard and the others.” Stahl was bruised up, but not as badly hurt, though she seemed to be hiding something.  
Jurow suspected that Stahl was a Chrome, someone who had been genetically enhanced and therefore was healing faster and had a better body in general. But she didn’t want to call the Detective out in front of others. “You seem to heal fast. You should be back to normal pretty soon.”  
Stahl smiled and thanked Jurow.  
Paul opened his mouth, but Kennex gave him a threatening look.  
Jurow nodded at Stahl and asked who was up next.


	10. Chapter 10

After a minute, someone came in and helped the paramedic, whose left leg was hurt, over to Jurow.  
“Hi, my name is Doctor Natasha Jurow. Can you tell me how this happened?” Jurow asked.  
“I’m Leslie Shay. Uh… it happened in the city when I was treating people. It’s getting just more painful since then,” the paramedic told Jurow.  
Jurow started to examine her. “Thank you for your work, you did a great job treating the others. They are really lucky you are around.”  
Thankfully, there was no sign of infection at Shay’s injury. But, because she had been busy treating everyone else, her injuries hadn’t had time to fully heal yet.  
“You will need to rest the next few days,” Jurow told her.  
Shay nodded, relieved it was nothing more than that.  
Jurow gave her a warm smile before she helped her up.  
Kennex helped Shay out to where she could rest.  
Now there were a few bruised people left, and one person who seemed to have a cold.

***

After Jurow was done with work she could feel her exhaustion coming up, every wound and injury she had gotten in the last week was aching. She grumbled and got her kit to take care of the dressings.  
“Hey, you look done,” Kennex said when he saw her, how she was wrapping a new bandage around her arm. “I got us a tent and two cots, we have people on guard at night. So we can both get a full night of sleep.”  
Jurow was glad as she heard that, she cleaned up all the mess she had made and then went with him.  
The tent was small but it was enough space for the two cots and their few personal belongings.  
Kennex grumbled something as he kicked off the boot before entering. Jurow followed right behind him, taking off her boots and starting to pull off her outer gear as soon as she was inside and had closed the tent.  
Kennex stripped into his underwear and took off his leg. He went right to bed.  
Jurow had a slight grin on her lips when joined him, curling up next to him and feeling how he pulled up the blanket to keep them both warm.  
Kennex pulled her close to her and went to be the big spoon behind her, to keep her safe and warm.  
She already started to doze off. She could hear him breathing and his heart pound in his chest and it calmed her. Even though outside the camp was still busy, it sure was calming down but people were talking and walking around.  
For Kennex this was harder to get used too, especially since they had spent the last nights alone outside in the desert or the shed in the town. 

-4th June 2048-

“How did you sleep?” Kennex asked Jurow as soon as she had woken up fully.  
“Pretty well. I'm still sore. You?” she replied sat up to reach for her pack.  
“I woke up like two hours ago. Phantom pain is being a bitch,” he grumbled.  
“Sorry to hear that, babe. Maybe take it easy today?” She handed him his water bottle and a half of a protein bar.  
He nodded.  
Still chewing her half of the bar, Jurow started to dress and put on her gear.  
Thankfully the day passed without attacks and the two had a chance to have a break. Kennex found himself sleeping a lot. After work, Jurow joined him in the tent again.  
Even though she didn't admit it, the last few days had drained her.  
The two warned a can of soup before going to bed that evening.  
Kennex ran his fingers over the scars and Jurow's back and shoulders as she nodded off.  
In the sleep, she started to process what had happened most recently, the rain and that she was closer to Kennex. This night's nightmare developed around the fear of losing him, more like having him turn into one of those monsters and being forced to either shot him or let him kill her.  
Kennex slept close to her, still holding her.  
Jurow woke up from it, silently crying, scared that this dream would become a reality someday.  
Eventually, Kennex started to stir and he saw her cry. “Hey. What's wrong?”  
“... bad dream,” she sniffed.  
“Hey,” he whispered and rubbed her back, “do you wanna talk about it.”  
She took a deep breath, trying to finding the right words. “I dreamt that you got zombified by the rain… “  
Kennex nodded, worried. “Did you have to kill me.”  
Jurow nodded, slowly. “Yeah, or you would have hurt the others.”  
He holds her for a bit longer, quietly. “I can't possibly say, that this will never happen, but, I now have a reason to avoid that happening to me. You.”  
“I wouldn't want a life without you.”  
“Same…” he smiled and stroked her long red hair. “We can't predict the future but I will stick to you. I promise.”  
She nodded and then clung onto him.  
“Love you, ‘Tasha.”  
“I love you too, John Kennex,” she whispered and then kissed him in an attempt to ban the dark thoughts from her mind.  
He kissed her back and continued stroking her hair. He kept holding and tried to comfort her.  
After a while, she started to move and sat up.  
Kennex looked up at her, concerned.  
Jurow grabbed her clothes and belt. “I'm gonna get some fresh air,” she told him, clocked her gun and holstered it.  
“Do you want me to join you?”  
“If you want…”  
It was out of the question, Kennex got dressed and put on his leg.  
She waited for him. She left her armour in the tent and instead just put on her jacket.  
When Kennex was done, he joined her outside.  
The night was cool and the camp quiet.  
Jurow reached for Kennex’ hand. He took it and squeezed it.  
Jurow took a deep breath and looked around as they started to walk.  
“Thank god, it's been so crazy lately.”  
She nodded and kept looking around, as they reached the outer edge of the camp.  
They saw a pair of lights coming closer at rapid speed, Jurow squeezed his hand again. She knew it meant trouble and she regretted that she left her gear in the tent. She felt vulnerable.  
“Fuck!” Kennex grabbed Jurow’s hand to run, trying to get between here and the vehicle, and the people getting out.  
She suddenly was fully awake but she knew that they couldn't outrun them. She had grabbed her gun with her free hand but didn't draw it.  
"Stop or I shoot," yelled a man. He stood behind the opened jeep doors, it would serve as cover for him. And three other men left the car too and aimed their guns at the two.  
Kennex put one hand up while still holding onto Jurow’s hand.  
Jurow soon did the same thing.  
Soon, the other camp members came out, wondering what the hell was going on.  
"Get him!" the man ordered the soldiers.  
Jurow pushed Kennex aside to protect her friend.  
But she had no chance, one of the soldiers knocked her out with the stock of his rifle. The other two grabbed Kennex while the officer and the other soldier kept aiming towards him.  
“Natasha!!” Kennex screamed, fighting the men, but soon getting smacked by a rifle as well.

-5th June 2048-

When he woke up he was not in the camp anymore, that was clear. A US marine was guarding him, looking grim, his cap pulled into his face. The soldier shouted something over his shoulder, stating that “the vet” had woken up.  
A few minutes later the Commander entered to room.  
“What the fuck is going on?” Kennex growled. “I already had a concussion, you assholes.”  
“We need your help, doctor. You help our buddy and we let you go,” the Commander explained.  
Kennex’ head hurt and he was not entirely sure what was going on. He squinted as he looked up at the guard and the commanding officer. “... the hell?”  
“One of my men is hurt, I need you to help him,” the commander explained.  
“... and if I don't?”  
“We will kill you and find someone else to do the job.”  
“Fuck.” Kennex swallowed. “Where is your friend?”  
“Skipper, help him up.”  
The soldier went to Kennex and pulled him on his feet.  
Kennex winched in pain. “Easy, my head hurts like hell.”  
“I thought you would be less of a sissy,” the commander said with a shrug.  
The skipper led John into a room. It seemed like they were on a military base. A soldier was lying in the bed, pale, his eyes closed.  
“I’m a little tougher when people don’t bash my head in.” He snarled and looked at the man on the bed. Carefully, he lifted up the blanket and saw the leg wound.  
“Shit… uh… I’m gonna need to clean and treat this wound...” he said, trying to remember how Jurow treated Sasha, “... and antibiotics, he needs them.” He started describing what she had him get, and could even recall the name.  
The commander ordered the kipper to get _the doctor_ what he needed.  
The skipper returned with all the medical supplies he could gather and a hard plastic box filled with containers containing different Meds. It seemed like he had gotten them from their medical bay, whatever had happened to their medical staff was not clear.  
“Thanks,” Kennex said. His head was pounding and it made it hard to focus. He started by cleaning the soldier's wound first, remembering well how Jurow did it.  
The commander was standing behind him, watching every single thing that he did.  
Kennex meanwhile tried not to freak out. He could only try to bullshit his way through until someone came to get him out of here.  
“Can you explain what you are doing and why it is necessary?” the commander asked in a rough tone.  
“Cleaning his wound?” Kennex looked up at him, not sure why the commander would ask a question like this. “So it can heal and nothing more can get into it? So he doesn't get so bad that the meds won't work anymore?”  
The commander nodded, pulled a face and then turned around to his underling. “You watch him. If he tries something: You kill him!”  
“Yes, sir.”  
The commander left the two alone with the sick soldier.  
“Well, that's just friendly,” Kennex snarked.  
“Shut up and save him,” the Skipper responded.  
Kennex rolled his eyes and kept going, hoping to God someone would get him out of here.


	11. Chapter 11

The second Jurow woke up, she sat up, her head hurt like hell, she anxiously looked around, mostly to look for Kennex.  
Leslie was there, treating her. “Shhhh, calm down. You’re okay.”  
“Where's John?”  
“Sandra sent out a bunch of people to find out where they took him.”  
“Fuck, no. This is not happening,” Jurow tried to get up.  
“Doctor, please. You're hurt. I can't let you get any worse.”  
“I need to help them!” she paused and looked around as if she was thinking. “But why the fuck did they take him?” she asked a quietly.  
“We don’t know. That’s the thing. It doesn’t make a lot of sense. Do you know why the military might take him?”  
"I have no idea. It would be more effective to take me, I would be more useful. I'm a doctor and ex-military.”  
The paramedic’s eyebrows shot up. “Is there any way they could think he was you? I mean, that he was the army doctor?”  
“Because he is an amputee? It could be, yeah. Oh God, they'll kill him when they find out that he isn't the right one!” Jurow humped up, though she was dizzy.  
“Hey, you need to sit down!” Leslie didn’t force her, Probably because she was hurt herself, but she looked concerned.  
“I need to talk to your tech-wizard.”  
“Rudy. I think he is here.” She tried to stand up but her injured ankle was bothering her.  
Jurow saw that and raised both her hands in defence. “Just tell me where I can find him.”  
She gave Jurow directions to the makeshift workstation Rudy had.  
Jurow went there straight away.  
Rudy was busy, trying to work on a security system for the camp. Dorian was lying on a cot, still turned off.  
“You need to activate him!” she said and it sounded more like an order, than she had intended.  
“I’m still working on his power source. He can run for several hours at a time, but I haven’t got all the solar chips in yet.”  
“He can find John. They can kill him any second!“  
“How could he… “ Rudy’s face lit up. “You're right! You're absolutely right!” He ran over and got stuff out. He handed Jurow a metallic rod. “Here, touch to his left ear. Keep in mind, he was last conscious during the riots, so he might be jumpy.”  
Natasha carefully touched Dorian's ear and saw a little spark jump over, she took a step back, just to be safe.  
The DRN sputtered to life, even coughing and gasping like a human. He looked at Natasha, not recognizing her, and then at Rudy. “Where am I? We need to go back—Det. Paul is hurt and John is in an alley—“  
Rudy put a hand up. “Quick summary—we’re all out of the city, in a camp in the wreckage of a small town, but someone kidnapped John. We need to find him ASAP.”  
"I thought you can use his chip," Jurow said to Dorian.  
Dorian nodded and seemed to recognize her. “Dr Jurow....nice to meet you.” He frowned as blue lines lit up his face. “You should be resting, you have a traumatic brain injury.”  
“I know, just help us.” She had to try really hard not to freak out. And the android could probably tell how she felt about Kennex. "...please. I know he’s your friend too. The first thing he said to me was he asking if I had seen you!"  
“I’m trying....I’m scanning ri—Got it. Mullin’s military base. It’s practically down the street from here. “  
"Great job. Now we just need to find out how to get him out of there. They most definitely have better hardware and maybe more people…”  
[AN: Hardware is military slang for weapons etc.]  
“Do we have gas?” Dorian asked. “Like tear gas?”  
Jurow shrugged. “The Captain should know.”  
“Where's Sandra?” Dorian asked.  
“I haven't seen her since I woke up, but let's go and look for her.” She let go of the table to head towards the door.  
“Wait, won’t you be affected by the gas? Not you, Dorian, Dr Jurow,” Rudy said.  
“I have a half face respirator and my helmet came with goggles,” she shrugged. “I guess I'm a little too paranoid.”  
Dorian looked at Jurow and smiled. “I bet John likes you.”  
“I think he does,” she said, looking around outside, trying to spot the Captain.  
Sandra was coming over to speak to Rudy and was very surprised to see Jurow and Dorian up and walking.  
“Captain, I know where John is,” Dorian said, running over to her.  
“Yes, but we are probably outnumbered and outgunned. They have him in a military base. Dorian had the idea to use tear gas,” Jurow told her.  
“We have some things from the riot and what we saved from the police station. And I’m sure Valerie and even Richard will want to help.”  
It wasn’t long before Valerie and Richard came back from their fact-finding mission, and they worked on a plan. Jurow told them what she and Dorian had on mind.  
Valerie liked the idea and started working on the plan.  
Richard seemed less impressed but went along anyway.  
“They probably have one or two guards up front once we neutralised them we can use the gas to get John out whatever building he is in,” Jurow explained.

***

The skipper seemed to be an impatient person he soon started teasing John and telling him to go faster. He seemed like an even dumber version of Richard.  
John tried to ignore the skipper and keep working. He cleaned and dressed the wound, and did his best to look for any other problems before giving the soldier an antibiotic.  
After this was done the skipper brought him back to the room he had been kept before, John’s hands were restrained again.  
“I don’t get to check on him?” John asked, coldly. “He’ll need another dose in twelve hours or so.”  
“I'll bring you back to him in an hour.”  
“Are these cuffs even necessary?” John Kennex said, rolling his eyes. “I’m not armed, I have one good leg, and I probably have a concussion thanks to your buddies.”  
“I know you are a veteran and that you are considered dangerous.”  
John rolled his eyes and swore under his breath.  
Which made the skipper chuckle, he pushed John inside the room and then positioned himself by the door.  
Even though he really wanted to rest, John had a feeling he should probably try and stay awake. His head was pounding hard.

***

Later. Time had passed it felt like forever, they could hear shuffling down the hall, a metal container rolled into the room and before the skipper could even realise what was going on a white fog filled the room.  
“What the—.“ The tear gas hit his sinuses and lungs and John started choking. With his hands cuffed, he couldn’t do anything to protect his nose and mouth from the stuff, and his head was throbbing more and more.  
A group of people rushed in one of them knocked out the skipper. It was Valerie, Richard, Natasha and Dorian.  
Natasha made sure John had his leg before she cut his restraints and Dorian grabbed John to carry him out.  
Dorian could already tell John was in distress and tried to cover his face as they moved out. “Get him out of here!”  
Natasha moved fast, holding the door open so Dorian could leave the building faster.  
Dorian was trying to get John to fresh air as fast as possible.  
Natasha stuck with them, making sure they were covered. She knew that something was not alright with John.  
When they got out, Dorian had John on the ground and was compressing his chest, trying to get him to breathe.  
Natasha kneeled down next to them, took off her mask to give John EAVs.  
John seemed to have an asthma attack of some sorts. He was getting air in but it could not get back out.  
Richard and Valerie stood between them and the base, to shoot at anyone who came after them.  
“Fuck.” Richard reached into his gear and pulled out a small inhaler. “One of you take it, see if it helps.”  
Natasha was surprised but took it. She now had to make sure he would at least breathe again so he could inhale the medication.  
“No one, say anything,” Richard said, sounding embarrassed. “And if I later die of an attack thanks to this, it’s all you guys’ fault.”  
“Thank you, Detective. I'll try to find you a new one as soon as possible," Natasha told Richard.  
Natasha looked at Dorian, as she was asking if it was working.  
Dorian frowned a bit and then nodded enthusiastically. “It’s working. Airways are clearing.”  
Natasha made sure his chin was the highest point of his face, so the tongue wouldn't block the airway. "Come on John, you are a fighter."  
To the others, she said, "as soon as he is stable we should go back to the camp.”  
Valerie saw someone coming from the base and stepped forward. “Stop or we’ll shoot.”  
Natasha stayed with John but made sure her gun was easy to access.  
Now that John was beginning to recover, Dorian stood up, turned around, and fired one shot to immobilize the soldier.  
It was refreshing to work with a bigger group of people she could trust. Natasha constantly kept an eye one John to be able to help if he should get worse again.  
Another soldier walked out, saw his buddy hurt, and helped him back in, leaving the group alone.  
Dorian knelt back down and pressed his hand to John’s forehead. “Blood oxygen levels are rising, his breathing is getting easier. Are we willing to chance to take him back to camp?”  
Natasha nodded.  
Dorian gently picked John up and looked at the others to follow.

***

When they got to the camp, Dorian asked Natasha to help him get John to the medical tent. Natasha helped Dorian and made sure John was breathing.  
John was still breathing, and it was a bit stronger than before.  
Leslie who was taking care of Natasha before limped over on crutches and started checking John’s vitals.  
Natasha thanked her. She let John rest in a half sitting position so breathing would be easier, she also covered him with a blanket to keep him from cooling out.  
“He has a head injury that I’m worried about. Breathing and heart rate are a little slower than I’d like but not worrisome. And he has some cracked ribs. He’ll probably be in a lot of pain when he wakes up.”  
“We'll have to observe his TBI, not like we can do a lot, thankfully we have Dorian who can help us tell when it gets ugly. As for the pain, I will give him something before he wakes up,” Natasha told Leslie.  
Who nodded. “How are you feeling?”  
“Like crap, my head hurts, but at least we are all back in safety now,” she said as prepared the pain control injection for John.  
Leslie nodded and got someone to bring a cot next to John for Natasha. “You need to rest too.”  
“Fine,” Natasha grumbled. She knew the paramedic was right. She was glad though, that she would be here when he would wake up.  
“I'll stay right here,” Leslie said. Natasha was not sure if it was a threat or meant to calm her.


	12. Chapter 12

Natasha had been in the process of nodding off when John began to stir. He let out a loud groan. Even with the pain medicine, he was sore and not sure where he was.  
“Hey,” she reached for his hand. “How's breathin'?”  
“Hurts. Feels like someone sat on my chest…”  
"Dorian did chest compressions to keep you alive. I already gave you a shot against the pain.”  
“What?” John’s memories of the incident were still fuzzy. He turned to Natasha and gave her a small smile. “Hey, you’re okay?” He reached for her hand.  
She squeezed his hand. "I'm in a better state than you are.”  
“They smacked you hard in the head, didn’t they?”  
Natasha just nodded.  
Leslie started to wake up from her nap and smiled at seeing John awake. Grabbing a penlight, she went to check him for a concussion.  
Natasha was glad, that Leslie was around and could do her job. So she could have some rest, her head still hurt.  
The paramedic did a pretty thorough check on John. “You’re concussed, But I don’t see anything more worrying than that. Your sinuses and throat aren’t swollen anymore and I know your ribs are cracked, but that’s because your buddy did proper chest compressions to maintain your circulation.”  
Natasha kept holding his hand. "You had quite a severe reaction to the tear gas we used to get you out. Richard Paul saved your life.”  
John looked at Natasha, and then at Leslie. “Check me again, I’m hallucinating.”  
“She’s telling the truth,” Leslie said. “Your friend with the broken nose brought his emergency inhaler in case he had problems with the gas. And, since you were basically having a severe asthma attack, the medicine helped clear your airways.”  
Natasha nodded. “But he also said he'll blame us if he dies when he should get an attack. And I told him to get him one as soon as possible. I'm wondering, why are you two always fighting?”  
John only shrugged which made Leslie shake her head and she muttered “Men…”.  
John continues to squeeze Natasha’s hand. “I think they thought I was you, the army, I mean. They kidnapped me to treat a soldier and said they’d kill me if I failed. They wouldn’t believe I wasn’t a doctor.”  
Natasha had suspected this earlier but it had been only a theory. “Oh fuck. What did you do?”  
“The guy had an injury like Sasha. I cleaned it as best I could and gave him the meds you gave her. You guys broke me out before I heard what happened to him.”  
"I'm impressed. You remembered what I did after seeing it once?”  
John shrugged. “I can’t say I did it well, but it’s crazy what you can remember when your life is on the line.”  
She nodded. "I'm sure you did your best. And hey, you managed they didn't kill you so we could get you out of there.“  
John nodded. “I’m just glad to be out of there. Are you sure you’re okay?”  
“My head still hurts but otherwise I'm alright.” The thought of the fact that she was supposed to be at John's position scared her.  
John squeezes her hand and smiled at her. “Good. Not about the head, but that you’re okay.”  
"I'm sorry, I didn't think about the fact that you could react to the gas so extremely. I'm sure there would have been another way.”  
“I’ve never that happen to me before. I wouldn’t have expected it.”  
"But I knew there is the chance it can happen. On my job, I deal with this stuff almost daily.”  
“Babe, they would have killed me anyway. I don’t think they had any plans to let me go.”  
"Yeah, but I didn't want to risk you like that.”  
“You got me out and I’m alive. Thank you.”  
She gave him a bit of a shaky smile.  
“I’m glad you could keep a calm head. I know I was freaking out.”  
"How do you mean that?”  
“The whole time I was at the base I was freaking out but you managed to keep things calm and mount a rescue,” he said with a smile.  
"Dorian did the most work. He tracked you down and the tear gas was his idea too. Besides things like freeing of hostages were literally my job. But I have to admit, loving you didn't make it easier. Where I can keep calm usually, now I'm just worried as hell.”  
“You still manages pretty well, it seems…”  
"I guess the fighter in me dies last. And, hell, it came handy again that I left my home over prepared.”  
John smiled at her. “I love you.”  
“I love you too.”  
Unbeknownst to them, Dorian was at the door, having finished being upgraded by Rudy.  
“You two are so cute,” Dorian said as he came in.  
Natasha looked up slightly embarrassed.  
Dorian stood there and smiled. “Nice to see you awake, John.”  
“Same to you,” John said. “I’ve almost forgiven you for destroying my ribcage.”  
Natasha smiled as she realised why the two got along like this. John with his fake leg and Dorian with a synthetic soul.  
“Hey man, I did what I had to do. It’s not my fault you decided to literally stop breathing in front of your girlfriend.”  
"He didn't stop breathing to be precise... He had an asthmatic attack " said Jurow just to tease Dorian a bit and to defend John.  
“Well, whatever you want to call it, you weren’t getting air in and I needed to maintain your circulation so you didn’t die.”  
Both Natasha and John were cautioned that they needed to rest for a while, but that they were improving. During that time they were there for each other.  
-7th June 2048-  
After two days of rest, they were well enough to leave their tent and help in the camp.  
John was trying to help with defending the camp when he heard someone yell “they are back!”  
Natasha had heard him say that and came outside to see what was going. Just the words had triggered her in some way. She shouldered her rifle and went over to John and the others.  
John got his gun and took Natasha’s hand as they, and almost the entire camp, went to the entrance.  
Captain Maldonado was in front, carrying a shotgun and a look that would kill.  
It were the corrupt soldiers. Or better what was left of them. And they seemed like they were up for a fight.  
Sandra stomped up front, aiming her gun at them. “Get the hell out and never come back again!”  
The commander was furious. “Your people attacked us!”  
“After you kidnapped one of ours. And for your information, you didn’t even grab who you were looking for, you blowhard.”  
Natasha hoped they would leave without causing more trouble. But she was ready to shot them if needed, in fact, she would be happy to do so.  
John stood close to Natasha and watched Sandra talk down the soldiers.  
“Here’s the deal,” Sandra said, glaring at the corrupt soldiers. “You’re not above the law, you never were. The government institutions might be in a wreck, but there are still plenty of people to hold your feet to the fire. Now, I agree, there’s nothing that can stop you from wiping us out right here but word still travels. And if you think the bombings were bad, wait until you piss off every single person still alive.”  
They didn’t react much to it.  
Natasha watched it, still holding her gun with her left hand, her respect for the captain was growing a lot.  
Sandra looked over at the soldiers, her face still stern. “Now, if I were you boys, I would turn around and start working on a way to keep all the displaced civilians safe from further attacks. And, if any of you come back here and starts trouble, everyone in this camp will have the right to shoot you where you stand.”  
John could tell Natasha was fraught. She really closely observed the soldiers movements, while hoping that none of them reached for a gun.  
John moved over and wrapped one arm around her waist. That only left one hand to hold and fire a gun—not ideal, but he was more worried for Natasha than himself.  
The soldiers glared at Sandra for a bit. But then one of them saluted her like a superior and turned to go back to the base.  
Natasha sharply exhaled but didn't fully relax. She kept holding her rifle, her grip tightening even a bit.  
Slowly, everyone but the commander nodded to Sandra and made their way back.  
The commander, however, glared at her, and then pulled out his gun to shoot her, only for Sandra to beat him to the punch. She fired two shots, and the man crumpled in front of her.  
Natasha had no chance to assist since there were plenty of people standing in front of her and she could not risk one of them. And the captain had the situation under perfect control. She now just hoped that the other soldiers would not follow their commander’s actions.  
They didn’t, thankfully. Two put their hands up to show they weren’t going to fire and went to take their commanding officer’s body away.  
The soldier who was now apparently in charge gave Sandra a shaky nod of approval as if to show agreement with what she said before. And then, they all headed off.  
Sandra watched them leave before turning to the others. “Please tell me someone here has some goddamn whiskey.”  
Natasha relaxed and lowered her firearm. Unfortunately, she only had some booze for medical use.  
“There might be some in one of the ruined houses,” said John. “Are you okay, Sandra?”  
“I just shot someone, John. Obviously, I’m not okay.”  
“There are a few other things we need anyway, I'll come with you.” Natasha turned to the captain. “You had to or else you would be the one dead, captain. If you want to talk…”  
Sandra nodded to Natasha like she might take her up on that later.  
Natasha nodded back at the captain and then turned to John.  
He nodded. “Yeah, Let’s go, babe.”  
“Aye, let’s go.” She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “But let me get my stuff first.”  
“Alright. I’ll be here,” he said and gave her a short smile.  
Natasha went to their tent to get her backpack, she packed a few things just to be on the safe side also they would have more space to carry stuff. She returned a few minutes later.  
John was trying to calm down Sandra and he smiled when he saw Natasha returning.  
Sandra nodded as she saw her. “You two, be careful.”  
Natasha and John nodded. He took Natasha’s hand and they started heading towards town. Or what was left of it.

***

John looked around and squeezed Natasha’s hand. He doubted there would be any survivors stuck in the rubble, not after this time. There was a good shot they would find remains.  
Natasha was reminded of the towns she had been to in the Middle East. It gave her chills to see America like that. But she had John and John had her, that was a huge relief.  
“How are you holding up?” John asked after they had walked through the streets for some time.  
“If there is something bordering you, please let me know,” he said softly.  
“Well, we are in a fucking warzone. But that’s no news, and it is not in our power to fix it. We can just ‘keep calm and carry on’.”  
“Well, I’m not sure if I can fix the warzone, babe,” he said with a smile, “but if you need help keeping calm, let me know.”  
“I will. I Promise.”  
John smiled and kissed the top of her head.  
At the end of the street, there was a mall, it was mostly intact. Just one corner of the building had been ripped apart by a bomb or a missile, that had ruined the house next to it entirely. A school bus had crashed into the front of the mall.  
John saw the bus and felt a knot in his stomach. He didn’t know if he could handle seeing dead children today, or ever. He did not know it was empty, the driver who had been dead at the impact.  
Jurow headed around the bus in a huge bow, not planning to see inside either. She was looking for a staff entrance. John was following right behind her, looking worried.  
“Do you think we are allowed to break a shop window?” she asked.  
“Who’s gonna yell at us?”  
Natasha shrugged and broke one of the shop windows. She was thankful to be in her SWAT uniform since it offered good protection against cuts.  
Meanwhile, John just stayed back and watched her carefully.  
She made sure there were no sharp edges left that could hurt John and then climbed inside. She offered him a hand up.  
He took it and climbed inside.  
It had been a shop selling clothing items, and it had been raided at least once, probably in the first days of the war.  
Natasha raised her gun and turned on her torch in order to see better.  
John stayed close to her, he was in cop mode. He looked around and listened for anything that could be out of place.  
It was dark inside, the only light came from the one shop window, the one they had broken. And the further they went inside, the darker it got.  
John would be lying if he said he wasn’t at all thinking about the day he lost his leg. The two were most likely alone inside the mall, but they could not know for sure. But sure was, if there was indeed someone here, they would have heard the breaking of the glass and either hide or come for the two.  
The way the two moved and behaved was very similar but there were slight differences that one could put up to the personal preference of the two.  
Soon they were out of the store and in the main hall, the big roof windows that were shedding some light in were barely intact.  
"Okay let's find a place that has groceries, maybe they have booze too. And maybe we find medical supplies too. I still want to give Richard a new inhaler," Natasha said quietly.  
“Alright, I’ll see if there’s a pharmacy around here.”  
“You can do it but we should stick together. Just saying, most horror movies start with the people splitting up,” she joked, hoping to relieve some tension.  
John laughed a little. “Good point. I don’t want to get trapped by rubble or something.”  
Natasha smiled. “Okay, let’s start down here and work our way up?”  
“Sounds good,” he said with a smile.  
She gave him an encouraging nudge in his side. She started to move towards a place that looked promising.  
It was dark inside the shop, no windows, nothing. Suddenly there was the sound of a cereal box, or something similar, dropping to the floor.  
She froze and exchanged glances with John. Who, of course, hadn't touched anything. He had raised his hands to prove it to her. They were not alone.  
Jurow raised her rifle and let the beam of her torchlight light the aisle. She gestured John to follow her.  
There was a figure standing there, half turned away from them. It seemed like they had pulled stuff out of the shelves. The second they noticed the two the turned around to them, along with a mad snarl.  
“Oh, fuck!” John went to get his gun out and aim at the being.  
The being was not even slightly phased by two guns being pointed towards it but it started moving slowly towards John and Natasha.  
"Stand down," Natasha said loud and clear. She knew that they wouldn't stop anyways but she wanted to have said it.  
The being kept heading towards them, she pulled the trigger. She fired two shots, John one. All three hit its head. It collapsed and hit the ground with a solid whomp.  
They listened if there were any others. There were steps approaching.  
Two zombies came into their field of view. Natasha opened fire right away this time, skipping the warning.  
John fired too, turned and shot at another zombie coming from the other side.  
The two cops now stood back to back. It seemed like the sound of gunfire was attracting more and more zombies from all over the building. Natasha tried to save ammo by giving them each a bullet in the head.  
“We gotta get out of here!” John yelled.  
“Agreed!” she answered him and shot down the last one on her side. “My side’s clear, let’s run!”  
John nodded, turned around and ran with her, keeping himself between her and the zombies.  
Thankfully the zombies weren’t that fast and they seemed to be stumbling a bit.  
Natasha managed to grab a bottle of whiskey and to hide it in her pocket on their way out. John was running with her but then they heard the building around them rumble.


	13. Chapter 13

Dust fell down from above and with a horrible cracking sound the ceiling came down, covering everything into dust and debris.  
Both coughed hard, unable to see and barely able to breathe.  
“‘Tasha?” John called out, followed by another violent cough.  
Natasha pulled her scarf up into her face, made it cover her nose and mouth, to protect her airways from the dust and to help her breathe. “I’m unhurt. Are you OK?”  
She could hear steps not far from her, it was most likely a zombie but she could not know for sure. Maybe it was John.  
John coughed hard and moved to where he thought Natasha was, only to find debris.  
Natasha heard John coughing somewhere behind her, she raised her gun, hoping she could trust her ears. She still could not see anything, she could not fire.  
“Babe!” John called out. “I think we are seperated.”  
“Yes, we probably are,” she heard the steps in front of her coming closer. “At least I hope so,” she added quietly before she fired, praying to god that it was a zombie indeed.  
“Tasha?!” John had heard the shot and tried to sift through the debris only for more to come down on his side.  
Yes, he was most definitely behind her, somewhere and there were still steps in front of her. The zombie was still up and coming towards her.  
“John, please be quiet for a second.”  
He could tell how fraught she was.  
She knew he was worried as heck for her. But she had to focus. She listened, not sure anymore if it was still coming for her.  
John stopped, mostly because he could not move his fake leg. It had got pinned under some debris.  
Natasha held her breath and listened closer. Her finger was still hovering over the trigger, she took small steps forward, where she had hear the steps.  
She heard a snare and fired again, this time a salve of shots. She heard how something hit the ground, she had hit.  
John tried to remain as quiet as possible, even though he was scared to death for her. He tried to move his synthetic leg and found he could wiggle a little, maybe enough to free himself.  
Natasha kept moving towards it and eventually found a zombie, completely covered by dust. She shot it in the head once again, making sure it was dead. Then she listened if there were any more on her side and trapped with her.  
She heard nothing.  
“Okay. John, now let’s find a way for me go get over to you. How’s breathing?”  
John coughed hard in response.  
“See if you can improvise something, maybe use your shirt to cover you nose and mouth.” She had made it back to her side of the rubble. And she started looking for a gap or something that could be moved to let her thought.  
The dust was starting to settle down, even though she stirred up more, just by moving.  
“I’m glad you are not hurt. I’m trying to find a way to come over,” she told him.  
“Are you okay?”  
“I am.” She found a small gap but it was not big enough to fit her through.  
John was still on the other side, slowly wiggling his fake leg out of some debris. After a bit of grumbling, John had finally freed himself.  
She carefully stared removing debris, to make to hole bigger, she hoped she would not make it worse by doing so.  
She made slow progress and she kept working until she would fit. The scarf was sure offering some protection but her mouth still tasted like dust and breathing was hard. It did not make work easier, that was for sure.  
John helped her on his end, clearing out debris.  
After some more time, she was able to crawl through the hole to the other side. Slowly, she got back up and hugged John. He hugged her back, tightly and kissed her forehead.  
She pulled her scarf down to kiss him back. Which also triggered another cough.  
He kissed her on the lips and then stroked her hair. “I don’t know about you, but maybe we should head back home soon.”  
“Yes we should. But first I need to get that damn inhaler. I don’t want Richard Paul to blame us for his death.”  
“Crap. eah. Where’s the pharmacy—we might want to see what else we can get.”  
“I thought one level above us.”  
John nodded. “How do we get up there?”  
“We can try the stairs. There should be at least one emergency stairwell.”  
He nodded and started to hunt for one, looking behind doors that he could open easily. See sticked with him, she didn’t want to get separated from him again.  
Finally, John found a doorway to a small stairwell. “Here we go.”  
“Good work.”  
He gave his girlfriend a smile. “It looks stable but we should be careful.”  
“Yeah,” she reached for his hand.  
He held her hand and they slowly made their way up the stairs.  
When they had reached the next level, Jurow carefully opened the door.  
The roof of the second floor had mostly caved in, but it didn’t look totally impassable if you were okay with climbing.  
"Can we make this? Your leg..."  
“We can try.” He said with a shrug.  
“Okay. Should I go first? If you don't manage I can go and you wait.”  
“I’ll follow. I don’t want to be separated.”  
“Alright.” She started carefully to make her way towards the pharmacy.  
John followed her, trying his best to keep up. He managed to climb over the debris to reunite with her.  
Natasha waited for him on the other side.  
“What do you see?” asked John.  
Natasha turned on her flashlight to have a looked inside the drawers. She checked the labels of the boxes and containers. “Lots and lots of meds.”  
“Good. Let’s load up the packs.”  
“Alright!” She took off her backpack and pulled out a plastic bag. “Here. I’ll look for an inhaler. Let’s hope they have one.”  
John took the bag and started to get out intact boxes so Natasha could see what was in them.  
She only took what she considered useful and thankfully she found two inhalers as well.  
John deferred to her on that— she was the doctor, after all.  
As they were wrapping up, he froze and put a finger on his lips for them to be quiet. In the distance he could hear the drone of planes.  
“Fuck,” Natasha whispered. “We need to get somewhere safe.”  
“Stairs?” he asked, concerned.  
“Yes!” She grabbed her bag, put everything away and shouldered her backpack, so she had both hands free to climb.  
John tried to climb over the debris as fast as he could. “If I fall behind, don’t put yourself in danger for my sake.” But he know that she would do exactly that. And that he would to the same if things were switched.  
“You bo first! You barely recovered from our last adventure…”  
“Babe, let’s just get to safety,” John said and sounded tired.  
“That’s my plan.”  
Above the two the drone grew louder. It gave them chills. It was not sure if they could make it to the staircase in time.  
John moved as quickly as hould, trying to cover as much of bare skin as possible.  
Natasha followed swiftly. As soon as she had solid floor under her feet she pushed John to where they were at least somewhat covered. Right on time. She was barely under the piece of roof herself when the rain started to pour down.  
John pulled her to the corner, where the roof seemed stronger and held her tightly as the chemical rain just missed them.  
A biting, almost choking smell started to fill the air.  
John started choking and pulled his shirt over his nose and mouth to help.  
Natasha felt it too but her mind was racing already. She took off her backpack and pulled out her mask. She handed it to him, knowing it would help. He ended up accepting it, not wanting to have an issue like at the military base.  
She used her scarf to cover her mouth and nose, it helped a bit but the effect was minimal.  
He held Natasha close to him, hoping that the rain would be short.  
She was almost clinging. She was scared like hell but tried not to show it.  
John was scared to death as well, but he tried to stay calm. Very gently he started to rub her back.  
Both the chemicals gave Natasha the feeling of tightness in her chest and her thoughts went crazy.  
“I’m here,” John said through the mask. “Babe, I’m right here.”  
“I love you,” she said in a whisper.  
“I love you too, so much.”  
“I know. Me too.” She was barely able to breathe. She just didn’t want her recent nightmare to become true.  
John saw this, and carefully removed his mask and put it on Natasha, before pulling his shirt over his nose and mouth again.  
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked followed by a cough. She just could not lose him.  
“You need it more than me,” he said softly.  
“You had a severe reaction a few days ago.”  
“You were suffocating just now,” he said a little teary-eyed.  
“I’m fine,” she said and pulled it off to give it back to him.  
He refused, knowing she was not fine and tried to put it back on her.  
Thankfully, she didn't really had the power to fight it. She was way too tired.  
“You are an idiot, John,” she said quietly. She prayed that his lungs would act nice today and if not that he would tell her soon enough. She was also scared that just being exposed like that, to the fumes could turn them. After all they didn't know what had happened to the zombies.  
John tried to stay calm and not hyperventilate. Instead, he held onto Natasha and focused on how they would go back to the camp after this was all over.  
The mask really helped but she wanted to be out of here. We're the people in the camp alright? Would she and John even be alright?  
“How about we share it?" she asked after a while of almost unbearable silence and listening to John's heart pounding in his chest and him how he tried to breath normally.  
“Okay…” he said softly.  
She took it off and handed it to him.  
John took it for a bit, and then handed it back. It seemed like a good compromise.  
"Do you feel better?" she asked after a while.  
“A little… ” John said softly.  
As they handed the mask off to each other, there were a few more bursts of poison rain. And then the planes flew away.  
The stayed there a bit longer to make sure they were gone and they are fully left their hiding place to make it down the stairwell and back outside.  
Natasha gave the mask back to him.  
It was much easier to breathe now, so John didn’t put the mask on. He carried it and looked around at what had happened. “Shit...”  
She was glad that the streets were more ventilated and one could breathe down here.  
Natasha reached for John’s hand signal him he wasn't alone in this.  
He squeezed her hand and gave her a relieved look. “You okay? Don’t feel like a zombie?”  
“The fact that I'm still in love with you should prove that I'm not one, but you can never be sure and I feel like shit.” She paused. “How about you?”  
“Fine. Anxious but fine. The smell really seems to have gone away. I wonder if the stuff they sprayed on us is only good for a short time.”  
They would have to avoid any puddles and places that could drop rain onto them on their way back to the camp.  
“I don't know, I somewhat hope it is the case.” She squeezed his hand.  
Yes, the smell was gone but the tightness around her chest wasn't. She couldn't wait to be back in camp to get out of her gear. Even though she usually didn’t mind wearing it, now it felt like it was making it worse.  
“I’m not a scientist, but that would make sense as to why they keep spraying it.” John shrugged. “It does make sense, right?”  
Natasha nodded. “Yeah, it does.” She paused to cough. “But we should still be careful.”  
John nodded and rubbed her back.


	14. Chapter 14

When they approached the camp, Natasha was super done and worried about the others in the camp. She hoped they were alright.  
Dorian was guarding the way they had left and ran over once he saw them, giving John and Natasha hugs.  
“Is everyone OK?” she asked Dorian.  
Dorian nodded. “I could hear the planes coming before anyone and we were all able to get to safety. Sandra’s worried sick for you two, though.”  
"That's great news. We should go to her first..."  
Sandra soon came out with her shotgun and looked so relieved to see them. She ran over and hugged John and Natasha. “Christ, I was scared to death for you two.”  
"We've got your whiskey, Captain," Natasha told her.  
Sandra saw it, and started crying.  
John gave her a big hug. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s been a shitty day all around...”  
Jurow was touched by the moment. And speechless.  
Dorian looked at John and Natasha. “You two should get checked out by Leslie....you look like you’ve been through a lot.”  
Natasha shrugged. “Alright.” She really wanted to take off that vest maybe it would make her feel better.  
Dorian walked them to the medic tent. Leslie saw them and looked relieved they were okay.  
Natasha took off helmet and vest, took a deep breath and coughed again.  
John pulled her close and hugged her.  
Leslie got a kit out to check Natasha’s nose and throat.  
Natasha let her do that, knowing it was necessary and she was too done to fight it.  
“Your sinuses are inflamed,” Leslie said after looking at her. “I have some medicine here that can help soothe them. Hopefully, the longer you’re in fresh air the better you’ll feel.”  
Natasha nodded. "Check him over too..." she pointed towards John.  
Leslie nodded and made John sit still so she can examine him. “You’re pretty shaky… sinuses are a little inflamed but not too bad. Do you feel anxious?”  
John shook his head, yes, saying nothing.  
Natasha decided to don't call him out and said nothing about it. She planned on cuddling with him and maybe get him to talk.  
“If it helps, you have every right to be anxious. Everyone’s been through a lot, and you’ve been through a hell of a lot,” Leslie said, finishing the check-up. “You’re not weak by any stretch, you’re just human.”  
Natasha nodded in agreement. “She’s right. You are really tough keeping it together like this.”  
John nodded and reached for Natasha’s hand.  
She took it, this time she wasn't wearing her gloves, and gave it a squeeze.  
“Are we allowed to go into our own tent?” Natasha asked Leslie.  
Leslie nodded. “If things get worse, let me know.”  
“We will.”  
John waves good-bye to Leslie and let Natasha take him to the tent.  
In one arm Natasha was carrying her gear, in the other one she held John's arm. She only let go of him to pull off her boots before entering.  
John pulled off the boot from his good leg and stripped to his undershirt and boxers before crawling into bed.  
She dropped her clothes and gear on the ground and joined him, cuddling him. “Talk to me, babe…”  
John was heavily shaking at this point. His mind was racing and he felt like he was going crazy.  
Natasha just kept holding him.  
“I don’t know....” he gasped. “I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”  
She rubbed his back to try to calm him down. “John, I know it was very fucking close today. And I swear, without you, I would have died. Not just that you were there, you give me a reason to be, a reason to move on and keep going.”  
John looked at her for a moment, still hyperventilating a bit, and then held her tightly.  
She looked back at him. “Now let's breathe together..." She too started to slow down her breathing, hopefully, he would follow along and get it back under control.  
John nodded and tried to match her breathing. He knew this trick, his therapist was big on this, but when he was in the middle of a panic attack that was the furthest thing on his mind.  
That’s what Natasha was there for. She had to make sure he would be alright, physically and mentally.  
After a bit, John seemed to visibly calm down. “I’m sorry, that you have to keep doing that.”  
“Don’t,” she whispered and leaned in to kiss his forehead.  
“How are you doing?” He reached out and cupped her face with a hand.  
“I'm fine, except being worried for you.” This was not a lie but also not really true, at least in a psychological way she was okay, as okay as one with her history could be.  
“Nothing hurts does it?” He asked, worried.  
“My head hurts and breathing still feels weird. But otherwise I'm great really.”  
“Babe.” John looked worried. “Do you wanna rest or do you wanna go back to see Leslie?”  
“It's normal for what she diagnosed me with. I should be OK... Let's just hope the next rain won't be in the next couple days so I have time to heal.”  
John nodded and kissed her forehead. “Maybe we can work on finding me a mask so we don’t have to share.”  
“That's a great idea…”  
John gave her a small smile. “Wanna lay down?”  
She nodded.  
John gently helped her down onto the bed and held her close. “I love you so much....”  
“I love you too.” She was glad it was over and they could finally cuddle and have some rest.  
John was happy to be alive and have her nearby. After that day, it wasn’t long before he fell asleep.  
Natasha had even nodded off before him.

-8th June 2048-

The next day, John at least was feeling better, but he stayed close to watch Natasha to see how she was doing.  
Natasha slept a bit longer than John but soon began to stir and to wake up.  
John reached out and stroked the side of her face with a smile. “How are you feeling?”  
“Way better than yesterday.”  
John nodded and leaned in to kiss her brow. “Good, I’m glad.”  
She smiled briefly "And how are you?"  
“Better, a lot better. Especially since you’re okay.  
She smiled. "Good. Yesterday was quite intense..."  
“No shit...” he looked at her with a small smile, “...I love you.”  
"Love you too," she leaned in to give him a kiss.  
She really didn't feel like getting up. The bed was warm and comfy and to be so close to John was great.  
John felt the same. Especially after the past few days, he wanted to enjoy his time with Natasha.  
"Do you think we will get into trouble for staying in bed longer?" she asked.  
“We are supposed to be resting,” John said with a smirk.  
"Then let's do that." She moved a bit closer to him.  
He smiled and went in for a kiss.

***

Natasha giggled, a bit like a teenage girl and put her shirt back on.  
Right on time, as Dorian looked inside the tent.  
Dorian raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Hey, Rudy and I figured some stuff out about the poison attack if you wanna come out and listen.”  
She nodded. "We'll be right with you."  
Dorian nodded, smirked a little, and left.  
“He knows,” John said from under a blanket.  
"He's a bot, it's hard to hide ANYTHING from his scanners..."  
“Christ....as long as he keeps his mouth shut.”  
"Yeah," she carefully got up to dress.  
“......babe, can you hand me my leg, please?”  
"Sure," she bent over and handed it to him.  
He smiled and reattached it before getting dressed.  
She also put on her gear and then sat down to wait for John.  
John got ready and then smiled at Natasha. “Let’s see what they found...”  
She got up and left the tent first. Then they headed over to Rudy's place.  
There were several people there already. Leslie saw the two and asked if they were okay.  
Natasha told her they were better.  
Leslie looked very relieved to hear that.  
Natasha smiled at her and turned to Rudy, curious about he had found out.  
Rudy explained that the rain is a chemical substance that doesn't last long, but light makes it fade quicker, presumably why they did the first attack at night. It is very aggressive and when it reaches bigger amounts in the body it can damage parts of the brain or even destroy them. He then asked how the two managed to be almost unharmed when they returned yesterday.  
“We found an area of the mall that had a stable roof,” John said with a shrug. “We also shared a gas mask and tried to avoid any big puddles when we walked back here.”  
Natasha nodded. “How long do you think our tents will stay leak-proof?”  
“They’re holding up now, but if we’re continuously getting bombarded, they might start to decay.” Dorian said with a frown. “We may want to start looking into which buildings in the town are stable, and start moving there.  
“I understand.” Natasha looked around, thinking.  
“I can start that,” Dorian said, looking at Sandra. “I can scan the buildings and determine which are still stable. And, if an attack happens, I shouldn’t be affected.”  
“If you should need any help… you know...” Natasha knew that Dorian could guess what she meant.  
John looked over as well, “I want to help too.”  
Dorian frowned. “You both are still recovering from before. I don’t want to put either of you in more danger.”  
Natasha rolled her eyes. “We are perfectly capable of doing that ourselves,” she joked.  
John arched an eyebrow. “I think Natasha is going to go anyway. And therefore I’m coming too.”  
Dorian sighed. “At least make sure you both have gas masks and something to cover yourselves with if there’s another attack.”  
“An idea where to get it?”  
“I know we have a cache of supplies around here, maybe there’s something we can use,” John suggested.  
“I have my mask from my SWAT gear that worked last time. And as cover, we could try to find a tarp or something.”  
John shrugged. “Let’s take a look.”  
“Would you like to come with us?” she asked Dorian.  
He nodded. “Of course. Someone needs to keep you two alive.”  
John rolled his eyes and internally cursed.  
“I think we managed quite well yesterday,” Natasha told the DRN. But really it was just a lot of luck and the fact that she was paranoid enough to always take her mask with her.  
“You two are very alike. That’S great for your relationship, but not so great when it comes to keeping you both alive,” Dorian said.  
John rolled his eyes. “Come on, let's find me a gas mask or something.”  
For a second Natasha almost forgot that Dorian was not human and just an android with emotions. She just nodded instead of insulting him.  
Natasha followed Dorian to where they kept their supplies, staying right with John. She reached for his hand as they were walking.  
John took it and gave it a squeeze, smiling at her.  
“Love you, babe,” she whispered with a smile.  
Dorian turned around to them and gave the two a smile. “You are adorable.”  
Natasha bit her lip, she was not cute, she was dangerous.  
John saw that, laughed and kissed Natasha’s cheek.  
They arrived where they had all the stuff they saved from the precinct. Natasha looked at Dorian hoping his supervision could help them find it faster.  
Dorian started scanning, looking for what they needed  
Natasha looked up John and smiled. Being happy to be with him and not alone in this entire situation. She didn't even want to think about how long she would have made it alone, on her own. She leaned onto him and then turned a bit to watch Dorian.  
John smiled back and kissed the top of her head. Despite all of the terrible crap that happened, he was so happy to have found her.  
Dorian has turned around and smiled at them. “Well John, it took an apocalypse, but I think you found a decent girlfriend.”  
John flipped him off in response.  
“Have you found something,” Natasha asked Dorian.  
“Working on it. You two could help as well instead of having googly eyes.”  
Natasha saved that sassy comment for later and let go of John to start looking through the stuff.  
“He’s often like this.” John whispered to her.  
“He's just jealous. Maybe Rudy should build him a girlfriend,” she whispered back.  
“I dunno, technically he had a sister, but that didn’t go well. Namely, she was evil.”  
“Oh, crap…” She frowned.  
“Yeah…” John said, remembering his dealings with Dancia.  
Natasha, still looking through stuff, opened another cardboard box and smiled as she inspected its contents. She had found filters, they were fully intact and still sealed.  
John was looking through a few boxes as well when Dorian called out. “Think I got something.”  
Natasha looked up to see what he had found.  
Dorian picked up a beaten up mask. “I think we can fix this up.”  
“I got filters that are a-okay,” she told the two others.  
“Great,” said Dorian with a smile.  
Natasha picked up her box. “Is the mask still good to use? We need to make sure it is still tight and fully intact.”  
“It’s a little bumped up but it looks still usable,” Dorian told them after he did a quick scan.  
“Great,” Natasha responded. “Let’s find something to cover us and we are good to go.”  
“There might be some riot shields if that helps,” John suggested.  
“Not sure. To carry them around would be hard and the excess would be dripping off the shields and still could hurt us.”  
Dorian nodded. “A tarp would be better if it is big enough to cover you both.”  
“Let’s find one,” Natasha said and started looking around again.  
Dorian and John both joined her, hoping to find one that hadn’t been shredded to hell.  
After a while they found something that looked promising, Natasha started to unfold it to check it for any damage and to see if it was big enough.  
John helped her, looking for damage as well.  
“I think this should work, it’s the best option we have,” she said. “I’ll go get my stuff and let’s go,” she said as she helped John to fold it up.


	15. Chapter 15

-11th June 2048-

After three and a half days of scanning and checking structures in the town they had finally found something that was intact and big enough to fit them all comfortably. A former high-school. No attacks had happened in the last days and now two entire weeks had passed since the first bombs fell in Los Angeles.  
Jurow's injuries had healed almost entirely, she did work on settling everything in the school's infirmary.  
Kennex had recovered well, though he still struggled with anxiety. Though he did seem to calm down as they moved the camp into the school, and he chatted with  
Dorian was about to figure out how to turn the water and electricity back on, he was later joined by Rudy, Kennex and a few others. They were looking at the schematics of the school.  
“We should make sure that water coming in is safe,” Dorian said as he looked up at Jurow.  
“Maybe you should consult Rudy about that,” she suggested.  
“Yeah, he is outside looking at the power connection right now,” Dorian said drawing something on the paper in front of him. It looked like Dorian was creating a map of the school, to figure out where to put people.  
Jurow watched him, who was doing what he had in mind. “Are you following some sort of pattern for that?”  
Dorian nodded. “First, I’m trying to figure out what the best areas are for our needs. Then I’m assigning rooms. You and Leslie, and John, of course. Are going to be nearest the clinic.”  
“Like to put the ones who can't fight as far away from the entrances as possible?”  
“I’m thinking of putting the cops or those with weapons training in the outside, and the civilians on the inside.”  
“Sounds good.”  
“I’m also trying to figure out the best plan if… really, when… more people show up.”  
“We still have the gym, right?”  
Dorian nodded. “Yeah, It’s mostly intact.”  
“If more than just a few should join us, we could put them there until we know where to put them.”  
Dorian nodded again. “That will work. And the locker rooms and showers are working. I know you humans like showers.”  
“First we have to make sure the tap water is not contaminated. Then we like showers.” She grinned.  
Dorian grinned back.  
John just really hoped Dorian wouldn’t say anything awkward.  
“Dorian? Please tell me you don't hear this too.” She was seemingly nervous, already ready to leave the room to check if everyone was inside and all windows were closed.  
Dorian froze, his face lit up, and then he turned to everyone. “Another attack! We need to secure the building!”  
“Aye. I'll check if everyone is inside!” She quickly ran out of the room, on her way to check she grabbed her gear. Just to be safe.  
John went to do the same and heard there was a group of people heading their way. While there could be zombies, John’s first thought was to help any survivors and got his gear accordingly.  
It seemed of their people everyone was inside. And the two were standing at the main entrance, looking down the street, no rain was falling, not yet but it was about to happen.  
“What do we do?”  
John ran out and saw the people, yelling “Hey! Get in here!”  
The drone had grown louder and the first drops were pouring down. Natasha pulled her makeshift Cape and her mask on before following John. She had to help the inside before it was too late.  
John quickly geared up and ran to the group, who were screaming at the first drops. “Come on, before it gets worse!”  
Natasha was there help the ones who were slowest, she tried to encourage them to go faster. “Come on we can make it!”  
John was helping when he heard a child’s scream. Without even thinking, he took off in that direction.  
“John?!” she called out. But he didn't seem to stop. She hurried to help the people into the first part of the hallway and ordered Valerie who waited inside to keep them there. Not wanting to bring the poison to far inside. Then she ran out again to see what John was doing. Just hearing the raindrops hit her cape, along with the drone of the planes scared her more than she liked. She knew she was at least somewhat protected and that she wouldn't be harmed by it if she was careful.  
John was out of sight, and no one could hear him or the child over the sound of the rain.  
Then, Natasha could see John running as fast as he could back, carrying a small child. He had put the mask on the kid and tried to cover his own face and head with his makeshift poncho as not to be burned.  
“Oh God,” she said quietly and ran to help him inside.  
When John got inside, he put the kid down and collapsed, coughing and trying to get air in.  
Natasha pulled off her cape carefully not to spill it on anyone. She could tell John was more in trouble than the kid. She hunched down next to him, freeing him from his cape and sitting him up a bit. She hoped, she would not have to drag him over to the clinic, he was not in exact good shape.  
John struggled hard to breathe, and Dorian ran over to scan him.  
“His sinuses and airways are swollen from the exposure.” He knelt down and patted John’s back. “Come on, man. You’re gonna be okay.”  
Natasha nodded, “We've got you.” She turned to Dorian, “keep an eye on him. I'll check on the others.”  
Dorian nodded, checking over John and looking at the small, crying kid.  
The group seemed to only have minor burns. She carefully approached the child. Not wanting to scare it. “Hey, you.”  
Dorian had helped the little kid get the breathing mask off. It was a little boy who was scared and crying. No one in the group seemed to recognize him.  
Luckily, thanks to John’s quick action, he had a few mild burns akin to a sunburn.  
Natasha took off her mask too, so the boy could see her face. “Hey, I'm Natasha. I'm a doctor. That's Dorian. We'll help you and protect you.”  
The little boy looked up at her with wide eyes, clearly scared  
“Do you see your parents?” John asked in a gasp. “Kid, is your mommy or daddy here?”  
Natasha pulled the boy towards her, being very careful, she tried to comfort him. The boy was crying but didn’t say anything. Sandra came by with some water and a protein bar for the kid, which he ate like it was his first food in ages.  
Natasha tried to calm him down a bit. She thought about leaving him with Sandra in order to treat John and the people's burns.  
The boy looked over at Natasha for a bit. “Hi,” he said softly.  
She perked up and turned to him. “Hey.” She smiled a bit.  
The boy looked up at her, clearly less scared of her than the others.  
“Can you tell me if anything hurts, big man?” she asked softly as she came a bit closer again.  
He pointed to his arm, which had a mild burn, and his left leg. His jeans were ripped and it looked like he had gotten into a scrape.  
“Would you like to come to the office with me? So I can fix you up.”  
The boy looked up at Natasha and then looked around.  
“I can come with you guys,” John said, still coughing a little. “I know going to the doctor is scary.”  
Natasha nodded and glanced at John, glad that he seemed to feel slightly better.  
John slowly got up, and the boy stared at his leg. “Are you a robot?”  
John frowned and looked down. “Oh, no.” He gave the kid a smile. “I hurt my leg so bad I couldn’t use it anymore, so they gave me a robot leg instead.”  
The three slowly went over to the infirmary, a few of the hurt people followed, Valerie and Leslie helped.  
“Okay,” Natasha sat the boy down on the bed, so she could start to treat his burns and check him over, “I'll have to clean your injuries now. You gotta tell me when it hurts too much and I'll stop, alright?”  
John sat down nearby and looked for anything in the room he could use to cheer the boy up.  
She leaned over to the boy and whispered: “He doesn't know but he is next.”  
The boy giggled but winced when she started to clean the wound on his leg.  
“I'm almost done,” Natasha said softly. “You are doing great. I'm proud.”  
John has managed to find a pad of paper and a pen, of all things, in a desk drawer. He sketched out a police badge on a piece and handed it to the boy.  
“You are super brave! You’re so brave, I’m gonna give you a special police badge!”  
Natasha smiled. She was now done with the cleaning and started to bandage the leg. “What's your name?” she asked the boy.  
“Leo,” the boy said softly.  
“That's a nice name…” She put a balm on the first degree burns on his face and on his arms.  
“Your name is Miss Natasha?” Leo asked, trying to remember.  
She smiled. “It fine if you just call me 'Natasha'. And that's John.” She pointed to John.  
John waved at the kid.  
“He scared me before, cuz he was wearing a mask,” Leo said softly.  
“ I understand. But I'm sure he didn't mean to scare you, the mask protects us when we need to go outside in the rain.”  
“He put it on me, and I could breathe again,” the boy explained.  
John smiled and then had a coughing fit.  
“Yeah, that's how he is.” She turned to John. “How do you feel?”  
“Getting better. I can breathe a bit easier.”  
“Good.” She was done with the boy and grabbed her stethoscope from the desk. She put it against her hand to warm it a bit before placing it at different points of his chest to listen to his lungs.  
John looked at Natasha and asked “Really?”  
Leo just giggled.  
Natasha slightly rolled her eyes. “Yeah, the more you play along the faster it will be over. I just need to make sure there is no fluid in your lungs.”  
John sighed and let her work. Thankfully there was nothing worrying. She started to treat his wounds.  
John gave Natasha a small smile and then looked at Leo. “How old are you, kid?”  
Leo held up a hand, counted on a few fingers, and then said “Four, and a half.”  
“Are you from here?” Natasha asked Leo.  
He shook his head. “I live in a house. It’s blue. But there was a loud boom, and my dad said we had to leave.”  
“Our houses went boom too. Is your house in this town?”  
Leo shook his head. “We were walking, my mommy is in the hospital in the city. The car didn’t work so Dad said we had to walk.” He started to wrap his arms around himself. “There were scary people, Dad told me to wait in the trees until he came back. He didn’t come back yet.”  
“Is your mommy hurt?” Natasha asked him.  
“Mommy has a baby in her tummy, but the baby was sick so she went to the doctor.”  
John paled. While there were many hospitals in LA, he knew that one of the major maternity hospitals was decimated by the first bombs.  
Natasha nodded. “How long ago did your dad tell you to hid?”  
“Um, yesterday? It got dark out so I went to sleep. And I ate all the food he gave me.”  
“How about you stay with us until he returns?”  
Leo nodded. “I’m still hungry...”  
“After I'm done with him, John will get you some food, OK?”  
John gave Leo a smile. “Just a minute, buddy. Okay?”  
“John seems like you are okay so far. You two, go find food. I'll check on the others…” She grabbed her stuff and cleaned up the supplies she had used up for the two before prepping for the next patients. As she did that, Valerie ran in to find Natasha. They had found another person and they were in bad shape.  
Natasha hurried to help them.  
John had already left with Leo to where they had supplies stored up. They currently had a lot of synthetic food and bottled water stored up, and more purifying tablets, but he knew at some point they would need to start growing their own food.  
The person was badly burned and shaking hard. He almost looked like a zombie… almost.  
Natasha did her best to calm him down and then helped him up into the infirmary.  
The person was really in bad shape. He was almost unable to answer Natasha's questions.  
At one point, the man started to shake violently, gasping for air.  
There was almost nothing she could do. No tools to intubated and his airways were badly swollen. She tried to calm him down.  
The man stopped and went completely motionless.  
Natasha had a bad feeling about this, she took his pulse. It was incredibly weak and somewhat erratic, just as the man suddenly sat up and tried to grab at her. She immediately took a big step away from him. “Sir, please stay right where you!”  
The man didn’t listen and lurched closer to her.  
She already had her hand at her gun. “Please stand down!”  
The man kept coming at her, in full zombie mode.  
Natasha drew her gun. “Final warning!” But he did not stop, she fired twice, aiming for his head.  
Of course, people heard the shots and ran over.  
John heard too, and his first thought was to run over, but he couldn’t leave Leo alone, especially after what happened to him.  
Natasha cursed silently and she checked if the threat was really eliminated. She was in light shock, that all had gone so fast. The zombie was dead. And looked awful.  
When people came in to check on Natasha, they were concerned that she had been attacked or bitten. She secured her gun and looked at the people. “I'm alright,” she said, to relieve them as she noticed their concern.  
Dorian came over and scanned the body. “He’s dead. We need to get rid of the body. We don’t know if this can spread.”  
“I agree. I'll find something we can wrap him into.” She opened the closet to take out one of the bedsheets.  
John soon arrived, with a scared Leo holding his hand. “‘Tasha? Are you okay?”  
“I am fine.” She handed the bedsheet. “Will this work?”  
Dorian nodded and took on wrapping the man up since he couldn’t be infected by him.  
“Thank you,” she said to Dorian, pulled off her gloves and went over to John and Leo.  
Leo was scared by all the noises and was clinging to John.  
“Are two alright?” she asked. She knew Leo was scared.  
“We’re fine. He heard the gunshots and got scared, and I didn’t want to leave him alone again.”  
“I'm sorry…” she said with a frown.  
“I’m sorry I couldn’t help. Are you okay?”  
“He didn't hurt me, I'm just a bit shaken up.”  
John nodded and gave Natasha a hug with his free arm, kissing her cheek.  
She returned the kiss and then hunched down to Leo. “Sorry I scared you. Let's check if it's still raining…”  
Leo nodded and clung to Natasha.  
She took his hand they walked down the hall to the big window. Natasha lifted him up so he could see outside. “What do you think?”  
Leo shook his head. “Everything still looks wet.”  
“Agreed. We should stay inside…” She put him back down.  
Leo hugged Natasha. “Is the hospital near here? Daddy said we were almost to Mommy.”  
“It's a very long walk to the city. We know cause this is where we are coming from.”  
“Have you seen my mommy? She has a big belly because my new sister is still in there.” Leo put his hands out in an exaggeration of a pregnant belly.  
“No, we haven't. But the city is huge and there are lots of people there.”  
John was nearby and knelt down so he was face to face with Leo, or close enough. “There’s a lot of groups of people out there. But we’ll let them know that you’re here, and hopefully, someone will find your mom and dad.”  
Natasha knew that the chances, especially for his dad, were small. The thought that Leo would never see his parents again scared her. He was such a small person and still, he had gone through a lot.  
“But, until then, if you want you can stay with Natasha and me?” John said.  
Leo nodded with a shy smile.


	16. Chapter 16

-27th June 2048-

The weeks passed and Leo and the other people were slowly getting settled in the group, finding their place and things to do. Leo hung out with Natasha, John and the other former Delta Division, or rather what was left of it.  
Poison attacks kept coming at them. It seemed like they focused on the more rural areas, where bigger towns and cities were still struck by missiles and bombs.  
One day during dinner another chemical attack hit the small town. As always a small team was watching the street for people seeking shelter, to help them in. Usually, it stayed calm. But today after the attack stopped a middle-aged woman came down the street, she was supporting an older man, trying to go as fast as possible, heading right towards the high school, practically dragging her companion with her.  
Both were obviously hurt by the rain.  
Richard Paul, who was on guard, went to call Leslie and Natasha, so they were ready just in case. He didn't like the rate on which they were taking in more people. Most of them were probably scumbags, who wanted to get through those awful times since they weren't capable of doing it themselves.  
Natasha and Leslie got ready and helped the two inside.  
The man was in distress, he had awful burns on all exposed parts of his body and he was practically soaked in the rain. It seemed like he had tried to protect the woman, which had exposed him a lot.  
“Please help us. I heard you have a doctor in the group and you helped people before. You gotta help him,” the woman begged, she was crying and shaking, desperate and in pain. She was clearly intimidated by the appearance of the guards.  
Natasha made her way through the group of people who were there to watch, so she had to make her way through it. She already had put on a layer of protective clothes, a mask, gloves and goggles. That way she could handle the patient even in close contact without getting hurt herself.  
“Let them in. Leslie, you and Valerie check her over. I'll take him, and get me, John, I'll need his help,” Natasha said. It sounded like an order. She rushed to the man’s side to support him. He was barely able to walk, he looked horrific, which also caused the 'bystanders' to move to the side to let the hurt pair and the helpers through. None of them wanted to get hurt. The man was fighting for air and Natasha knew that this would be a tough one.  
Natasha helped him up to the infirmary, she kept talking to him, trying to keep him calm. He had not said a word since they had arrived and he avoided eye contact. Maybe Natasha’s Russian name and just her appearance had scared him. This would make her job a lot harder.  
Only a few seconds John arrived too, he was in crisis mode and ready to assist Natasha.  
“Gear up, don't get hurt. Open the windows, the fumes are bad. And then grab the trauma scissors and help me to get out of his shirt,” she sounded confident in what she told him to do.  
Her eyes were tearing from the fumes already even though she was wearing PPE, not the tough one for direct exposure, and that seemed to be the mistake, inside the ventilation was way worse than outside. Every minute made it harder to focus.  
Leslie and Valerie arrived a bit later and helped the woman sit down on one of the other beds. Her injuries were mostly from touching and supporting her companion. She had introduced herself as Carol.  
John helped Natasha get the guy out of his clothes, so she could apply the burn treatment which was basically sprayed to neutralise it. They still hadn't found a way to treat airways that had been inflamed and hurt by the chemicals at this point and they could only wait like they had done it when John had been exposed way earlier. Natasha hated it. The man was not doing well and he was in danger to choke. It was way too late to intubated him.  
Natasha called for someone to help ventilate him with a bag valve mask, just to ease his breathing, but they were not getting much air in. She also gave him a shot IV, trying to at least slow down the poison it was looking bad. He was shaking violently. He would most likely Turn. Just like the other person that had been in this state. This time she tried harder. A lot harder. She felt the pressure on her shoulders, the woman, probably his wife was in the room if he would turn she would have to kill him before he could attack others.  
“Leslie, could you move her to the supply room. I think we need more space here,” Natasha told the paramedic.  
John was very quiet, this was unusual. He too was getting affected by the fumes of the chemicals. The entire room would need to be aired out and cleaned later.  
“Take a break if the fumes make you fuzzy,” Natasha told him with a frown.  
“Same to you…” he responded, knowing that she was less cautious when it came to her own safety.  
Natasha rolled her eyes at that. She had reached the point where she was losing her calmness regarding her patient's state. She remembered the time another man had turned in front of her. And all of this while she kept working, trying to save the man who was convulsing on the stretcher in front of her.  
John saw her face, he could see that it troubled her. He saw the tears and sweat running down her face. But he didn’t know what to do now, except assisting her at work and maybe comforting her later.  
The man kept convulsing, even the high dosage of drugs she gave him IV wasn't changing anything. It had been hard enough to find a vein that was still going to use after how bad he had been injured.  
Natasha cursed as her patient all of a sudden stopped moving. She turned around, glad to see that the woman and the other two had left the room.  
John made eye contact with Natasha. Her mind was clearly racing.  
If he would turn, she would need a better way to kill than a gun. But one had to destroy the brain. Just the feeling of not being able to do anything was the worst part of this.  
But the process of decision making was interrupted by her patient sitting up and glaring at.  
John had already got his gun and took the burden from Natasha. Two bullets straight to the brain, he couldn't let it hurt her.  
Natasha didn't relax yet. The worst part was about to come to her. She had to tell the woman, Carol, what had happened.  
Dorian rushed into the room, alarmed by the gunshot.  
“We are fine!” Natasha told him.  
“I'll take care of him,” he said with a frown, as he saw both the body and the mess out of medical supplies and other things around him, the traces of the desperate attempt to help him.  
“Thank you, I'll go talk to the woman who was with him,” Natasha looked at John.  
Both of them were still in shock. Nothing was fine.  
“Nobody enters this room, it's under quarantine,” she told John and Dorian. As she went to the door to take off her overcoat, face shield and other PPE, mainly to prevent it from spreading around, prevent it from hurting others. She did grab a new pair of gloves though.  
She found Leslie, Valerie and the woman in the spare room down the hall. They had got Carol into fresh clothes and Leslie had started to treat her injuries which were way less severe.  
Valerie and Leslie looked up at Natasha when she entered the room, they had heard the gunshot and knew what had happened. Also, the horror was still visible on Natasha’s face.  
“I'm sorry, I didn't have the time to introduce myself. My name is Natasha Jurow, I'm this group's doctor.”  
“How’s Jim?” Carol asked.  
Natasha sat down with them. “I'm really sorry to tell you this, but he didn't make it. We did all we could, his injuries were too severe. My condolences,” Natasha said softly. She hated this. To be the bearer of bad news.  
Carol looked right back at her, in shock, not sure what to say… if she should say anything at all.  
She leaned over to Leslie who sat next to her, having cleaned burns on her arm and face and Leslie pulled her into a hug. She was mindful about her injuries.  
“He protected me…” the woman said after some time of silence, “... we were surprised by this attack. It was just us since this all started. We stuck together. We are not just a couple, we are a team. He protected me, he shielded me until we were safe. We knew that you guys are living in the high school, he thought it was a bad idea to come to you. But I knew you could help so I dragged him here. Fuck. It's my bad.”  
“It is not. Not at all. You did the right thing. And we can help you get better,” Leslie said softly.  
“If you feel like you need to talk, Leslie and I are always there to listen.”  
The woman nodded and Natasha started to check her over. Leslie had done a great job when treating her injuries and she would recover from it. At least from her physical injuries. She was clearly traumatised and completely done.  
“You are welcome to stay with us, you need some rest,” Natasha told her.  
“What will happen to my husband?” the woman asked.  
“We will make sure he gets a safe and proper burial, you are the one who can decide on the details. As long as he is in a properly ventilated area, he is safe to be around. But we should bury him soon.”  
Carol nodded. Natasha put a hand on her shoulder.  
“Natasha?!” It was Leo, the women could hear him running down the hall. He had escaped whoever was in charge of him. Now he was looking for Natasha.  
Natasha sighed and pulled off her gloves. She left the room to see what was going on.  
“Aren't you supposed to be with Hugh?” she asked him and hunched down.  
“I saw scary people down the street, uncle Richard went with the others to take care of them. I just gotta tell you in case they get hurt.” Leo paused as he noticed how stressed Natasha looked. “What's up? Where are the two newbies?”  
Natasha picked up the boy. “Let's find Hugh. I'm really busy with work, I'm sorry. I’m sure that they will be just fine.”  
“Where is John?” Leo asked he was not giving up yet.  
“I’m here. Aren’t you supposed to be with Hugh?”  
“I… uh… She looks sick.”  
John had to smile a bit at this. Natasha sure was still a bit pale and her eyes were still reddish from the chemicals.  
“To be honest she looks a bit like the evil people who were down the street.”  
“Yeah. She needs rest,” John said and took Leo from her.


	17. Chapter 17

-28th June 2048-

“We two were getting by so well, you know? Sure we had heard about your group but we were managing on our own. When the rain hit we always hid inside of our place. But yesterday we were outside and go caught in it. He tried to protect me when we ran to a hide in one of the ruins. He was so hurt and when the attack stopped I dragged him here, even though he didn't want it…” Carol paused and looked up at Natasha.  
Natasha nodded and carefully put an arm around her. “I know, this is really tough. If there is anything we can do to make it easier, tell me. I promise you that we will do what we can.”  
“Thank you, doctor.”  
“You are welcome.” Natasha kept gently rubbing her back.  
That very same morning Carol and a few of the group members had buried Jim, in the same spot the other unnamed man who had turned earlier this month had been buried. Carol had decided on staying with the group, but she also planned to go to her place and get her stuff and a few belongings.  
Over the last weeks Doriand and Rudy had figured out how to turn the utilities on, and the rest had been working hard to make the school a more comfortable place to stay.  
In addition, after foraging through the nearby town for seed packets, the group tried to plant a garden to help supplement the synthetic food supply. And, to the surprise of literally everyone, John turned out to have a natural talent for it. It also helped his anxiety; which was a relief.  
These days were hot. There was zero wind and the air was just staying in between the mostly ruined houses of this town. Only the group members who had to even when outside, in this case those who were on guard duty. At noon it was John’s and Natasha’s turn to stand guard and watch the street.  
Natasha had felt weird since she had woken up this morning. She was standing at the window right above the door, with John, watching the street and mostly to spot zombies before they could arrive and scare the hell out of people.  
Sandra was keeping an eye on Leo as they all agreed watch duty was no place for a kid.  
“Yesterday’s attack probably made another few zombies.” John said, quietly. “Let’s see how long it takes until the first one comes to pay a visit.”  
“Better we see it and kill it before it can hurt anyone…” Natasha paused, she felt nauseous all of a sudden. “Damn…”  
“Babe, what’s wrong?” John asked with a concerned look on his face.  
“N-Nothing,” she looked away for a second. “I just thought how we little we actually know.”  
John nodded, still worried for her. He reached out and held her hand.  
“Love you.” She keep her eyes on what was outside.  
“Love you too....”. He said with a smile, looking outside. He saw a bush move, and went for his gun.  
Natasha had seen it too and was alerted as well. She hoped it was just an animal or survivors hiding.  
Both were squinting down at the bush, their dominant hands on the gun.  
Natasha now really felt like she had to throw up. But this was not the moment to run off to the restrooms. And John was worried already.  
John frowned as the bush shook .and then they saw the zombie come out. Quickly, he rang the alarm that told everyone there was a zombie nearby.  
“Let's get him?” she asked unsure how long she could hold it back.  
“Let’s go!” John answered and ran down the stairs.  
Natasha went down the stairs and unlocked the door. The zombie seemed to be slow and hadn't noticed them yet. John aimed his gun and took a shot right in the zombie’s head.  
She was glad he had taken the zombie out because now she turned around and ran, and barely made it to the toilet in time. What the hell was going on with her. Was she sick? Was the fumes from the chemical attack the day before?  
John, who had seen that, followed her and waited outside. “Are you okay?”  
She knew she couldn't lie to him, he pretty much knew already. “I feel… weird…”  
“Let’s go talk to Leslie, okay?”  
“Okay,” she said quietly, she hated it. But John was worried and he would drag her there if needed. He was worried something could be seriously wrong with her.  
When they arrived at the office, Natasha let Leslie check her over.  
Leslie did a check up and asked Natasha some fairly standard questions about what she had ate and if she had any other symptoms. She also asked for the date of Natasha’s last period, which she even admitted might be unnecessary but she had to ask.  
Natasha told her the truth, she was a more than just a little late on her period.  
Leslie noted that it had been a bit longer than usual. “So I’m not too worried since we’ve all been under stress and that can mess up our cycles… mind if I ask Carol to come in? She’s a retired midwife.”  
“Wait. Are you saying, I’m pregnant?”  
“No, but it’s technically a possibility if you’re remotely fertile, but Carol can find out for sure.”  
Natasha just nodded and looked at John as if asking for help.  
John had a look on his face that showed his mind hadn’t even gone to pregnancy as an option.  
When Carol arrived, it was a little cramped in the room. She sent John away to continue guard work and started asking Natasha detailed questions about how she was feeling.  
Again Natasha answered all questions as good as she could. Hoping this would not be happening.  
Carol frowned and went to ask Leslie something. After a few minutes, she came back with an old style pregnancy test. “I’m sorry, but it’s the only way to fully rule it out.”  
“Oh well. Thank you,” Natasha said softly. This was bad, really bad. It couldn’t be true.  
“The, uh, instructions should be on the box. And you can use the bathroom on this floor.”  
Natasha took it and went to do it. Her hands were shaking and she was sweating like heck, she was incredibly nervous. She had never thought about having a kid, not in this world. There was danger around every corner.  
Carol sat outside, waiting for Natasha to finish up  
When it turned out to be positive her feelings went crazy. She could feel her heart pount in her chest and she was sweating even more.  
Carol was there when Natasha came out. “So....what are the results?”  
“Seems like im pregnant,”she answered quietly, almost in a whisper.  
There was a pause, and then Leslie went to hug her.  
“I don't want to be. Not now…” Natasha was talking almost inaudible, she was crying.  
“I know. I get it… maybe we can find an abortion pill at one of the pharmacies… if that’s what you want to do.”  
“I need to talk to John about this. It’s his kid too after all…”  
Carol went out to get John, who came back in worried. “‘Tasha, are you okay?” He saw, Natasha was crying and that she looked like she was about to have a meltdown.  
“I’m pregnant.”  
John froze, not sure what to think. “....W-What?”  
“I can't believe it either. I mean part of me is happy that I am but the other part is scared. This is just no place for a baby.”  
“I know.” John pulled Natasha tightly into his arms. “I’m worried about you… I know Carol’s here, but I don’t want anything happening to you.”  
“I could take an abortion pill. Just so you know all options.”  
John nodded. “Yeah.....what do you want to do? You’re the one who’s pregnant.”  
“Killing the baby is just wrong. Not even considering that probably more than 60% of all people who lived here are dead.”  
“Look you probably don’t need to take the pill right this minute. Let’s try and calm down and discuss our options… Okay?”  
She nodded and embraced him again.  
John rubbed her back. “I love you, Natasha...so much....”  
“I love you too. Thank you for sticking with me and going through all of this shit with me.  
“You’re Welcome....and you’re not getting rid of me that easily.” He said with a smile.  
This caused Natasha to chuckle quietly.  
He reached up, stroked her hair a bit, and then went in for a kiss. She kissed him back, without thinking. The other watched, thought it was cute. Carol smiled while making out lists, for whatever choice the couple made in terms of the pregnancy.  
“I think imma lie down,” Jurow muttered.  
John nodded. “Can I get you anything?”  
“No, thanks. We have water in our room and I just need a nap, hopefully it will make me feel better.”  
“Okay.” John kisses her forehead. “Love you… if you need me I’ll either be on guard duty or in the garden with Leo.”  
“Okay, see you around.” She slowly walked down the corridor and closed the door behind her. She got out of her outer gear and curled up in their bed. She didn’t want to talk to anyone right now.  
To be in vertical position and have some sleep made her feel a lot better, she hated being like that already.  
John continued his shift until someone took over for him, and then he headed to the garden.  
He didn’t tell anyone what was going on with Natasha.  
A bit later she went to the garden, in plain clothes, just wanting to spend some time with John and Leo.  
Leo was running through the garden with a watering can, giggling. John had made a game out of watering the plants so the kid could help. It made Natasha happy to see this.  
When Leo saw Natasha, he put the watering can down and went to hug her. She lifted him up to hug him. “Hi, you. I see you are having fun?”  
Leo nodded. “I’m helping make the plants grow!”  
“That's really great. Thanks for helping,” Natasha said.  
“How are you feeling?” John asked, softly.  
“Better,” she told him and, hey, it was the truth.  
John smiled. “Good....glad to hear it.”  
“How are you two doing?”  
“Trying to channel this kid’s energy into something productive.” John said with a smile.  
“Seems like you are successful with that.”  
Leo picked up the watering can and went running around the path John had set out for him, watering each plant as he went. Natasha smiled as she watched him, she was glad the two got along well-  
When Leo had watered all the plants, John stopped him. “That’s enough—we can play more tomorrow.”  
That evening, Leo was thankfully tired and went to be without much complaining.  
John went back to Natasha and hugged her. “How are you?”  
"I still feel a bit weird but I'm good so far. I could really use some food..."  
John went over and got her some synthetic food. “Here....this was my ration but I’m not very hungry.”  
“Uhm. I can't take it. You need to eat.”  
“So do you.”  
“I ate mine earlier.”  
“We split it then.”  
“Fine. Thank you, babe.”  
John smiled. “You’re Welcome.”  
“Do you have plans for tonight?” she asked with a sweet smile on her lips. She leaned onto him.  
John shook his head. “No....why? What do you wanna do?”  
“Nothing in particular. Just hang out with you.”  
John nodded, and took her hand. “Any thoughts about what we’re gonna do?”  
Natasha looked up, thinking. “Nope.”  
John kissed her forehead. “Okay. Whatever you decide… I’m here for you...”  
She went in for a kiss.  
He kissed her back, warmly. He wouldn’t be opposed to a kid, to be fair. But these were dangerous times, and it would be risky for her to go through with a pregnancy. He had thought about it all day.  
“What’s on your mind?” Natasha asked as she saw him lost in thought.  
“I love you....” he whispered. “Very much.”  
"I love you too," she answered quietly  
“... if things were better, I would love to have a child with you. And I still would love to....but I know it’s dangerous. I’m scared about what could happen to you… I don’t want to lose you.”  
“I know... But killing them, the baby? Its just wrong.”  
“Do you think you can go through with a pregnancy? I know Carol is a midwife, and I can get what we need.”  
“To be honest I'm more worried about our child. This is not a world to grow up in, it's traumatising and dangerous.”  
“The world we came from is traumatizing and dangerous. We both know that better than anyone.”  
"But this here is a whole new level. We didn't have chemical rain... And our own soldiers being against us."  
“...I don’t think there is ever a perfect time to raise a child. When we were young, our countries were almost at war. My mom lived in New York during the September 11th attacks.” He paused. “Like I said, if you want to have an abortion, I’m going to support you fully. But if you’re worried about raising a kid....there’s never a perfect time to raise a kid. What’s probably more important is how we take care of them.”  
"Well, I think I'm keeping them," Natasha said with a smile and stroked his hair.  
John nodded with a tearful smile. “Alright, I guess we’re gonna be parents.” He moved closer and put a hand on Natasha’s still normal stomach. “Hey kid, hopefully the world will get a little better before you come out.”  
“Thank you,” she said with a smile.  
He looked at her and went in for a kiss. “I love you, so much.”  
She kissed him back. “I love you too.”  
John smiled and held her for a bit. “It’s getting late....wanna get some sleep?  
She nodded and then took his hand.  
John lead her to their bed and curled up alongside her, once he took off his prosthetic leg. Natasha pulled the blanket over them and snuggled onto him.  
“We should catch up on sleep now, we won’t have a chance later,” John said.  
“Keep calm, we still have nine months.”  
“True,” John said with a smile. “And kid, no coming out early.” He said, rubbing Natasha’s stomach.  
Natasha smiled and went in for a kiss. He smiled and kissed her back, looking blissfully happy. She moved a bit closer to cling around him, he did the same, holding her tightly.  
Natasha had been tired all day and quickly fell asleep. So did John. He was a little nervous, but incredibly excited to have a child with her.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha and John head out to get a few things for Natasha's pregnancy and they run into an attack.

-29th June 2048-

At the next morning Natasha felt a bit better. But the bed was nice and comfy and to be that close to John made her happy. John wanted to stay next to Natasha for as long as possible but on the other side of the privacy partition, he could hear Leo jumping around.  
Natasha kissed John's forehead. "Do you think we can go out into town today, there are a few things we could use..."  
John nodded. “Yeah, sounds good. I’m sure Carol will have a list of things we need.”  
“Yeah.” She kissed him again and then sat up to stretch.  
John heard Leo giggle and sat up. “Hey, what’s going on in there?” He asked with a smile.  
“Nooooothiiiiiing!” the boy responded, still giggling.  
Natasha laughed as she ran through her long red hair with her hand.  
John got his prosthetic leg on and opened the partition, to see Leo running around in backwards clothes.  
Natasha giggled as she saw Leo in the backwards clothes. “Do you need help, mate?”  
John caught the giggling Leo. “Alright, you goof. You know that’s not how you wear your clothes.”  
“Should I help you fix it,” she asked Leo.  
“Do I have to?” The little boy whined.  
“No, but I would recommend it if you don't want anyone to laugh at you.”  
Leo pouted but let Natasha fix his clothes. She did it carefully. In her past he had helped more grown men dress than little kids. But there sure were a few kids on her tours, back then.  
“Looking good, buddy.” John said with a smile. “Wanna hang out with Sandra today?”  
Leo nodded. “She’s a cool person, I like her.”  
“Yeah. Natasha and I have to go out for a bit, but we’ll be back soon.”  
The little boy looked worried. That was the same thing his dad said before he disappeared  
“Hey big man,” Natasha said as she lifted him up, “we will be back as soon as possible, I promise.”  
The boy looked at her, bit his lip, he looked tearful. “Really?”  
“Yes!” she said and gave him a sweet smile.  
Leo nodded, still looking sad.  
John ruffled his hair. “Hey, you’ll have a fun day with Sandra! We’ll be back before you know we’re gone.”  
Natasha nodded and careful set him down again.  
After getting ready, John went to speak to Carol....and came back with a huge list of things to prepare for Baby Jurow-Kennex.  
“That's a lot,” Natasha murmured as she read through the list.  
John nodded. “She has it organized by when we need it… so pre-natal care first, then stuff for the delivery, then the baby’s first few weeks.” He turned over the list and frowned. “And an optional sedative so I don’t freak out in the delivery?”  
“Possibly,” she said with a wink.  
“I’m gonna try to not be useless, how about that?”  
“I like that, babe.”  
John smiled and kissed her forehead.  
“Okay…” She kissed him back. “Let's gear up and get this done.”  
Sandra was happy to keep an eye on Leo, but was a little confused about what all John and Natasha were getting. Natasha had decided to keep it as a secret for now.  
Sandra shrugged but didn’t bother. She figured that as a doctor, Natasha knew what she needed.  
Natasha turned to John. “Ready to go?”  
John nodded, making sure his mask was ready. “Yeah, Let’s go.”  
Natasha checked if she had everything again, rather the third time.  
John leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Let’s go, so we don’t worry Leo.”  
“Yeah,” she replied with a smile.  
Then the two started to head out. It was pretty hot outside, there had not been real rain for weeks. The trees clearly didn’t like that, they looked really sad.  
The two headed down the path towards the town.  
John held her hand with a smile, while Natasha was constantly looking around. He just really hoped this would go smoothly, with no issues. But everything could happen, and they had been surprised many times before. It didn’t exactly help their paranoia. In fact it made it worse, a lot worse.  
Natasha was more nervous than him and he tried to comfort her.  
“Hey,” John said softly. “We’ve got this.”  
“I really know we do. But I'm getting sick of this.”  
“Same. I still wish I could wake up back in my own bed but then I remember that you wouldn’t be there with me. I would have never met you if it wasn’t for this fucking war.”  
“I mean we could have met at work, just a bit later maybe. But to be honest, same, I really could forget all this shit, except for you.”  
“Yeah.” John gave her a smile. “For me, that’s worth it.”  
“Same,” she said softly and looked around. “Where do we start?”  
“There’s a town a little farther north....that might be a good place to check out supplies.  
“Alright, let’s head there.”  
John nodded and squeezed Natasha’s hand. “...I’m sure this is way early, but do you have any ideas about baby names?”  
“I haven’t even thought about that yet.”  
“Me neither, to be fair.”  
“It was never on my mind to have kids. Maybe I was just to busy with my carrier, Dima was busy with his carrier. We did tours barely had time for each other,” Natasha explained.  
“Same. Even when I was with Anna, the idea of kids just wasn’t in my head.”  
“How long were you together with her?”  
“A couple years. And then she tried to kill me.”  
“I'm still wondering how she did it. If she was evil all along how did she hide it? Just saying you are a cop, a good one…”  
“Looking back, there were a lot of things I should have picked up on....her work trips, some of things she did.....but she was charming and always had an answer....so I didn’t push it.”  
“I'm surprised you are still capable of falling in love after that. I'm so sorry you had to go through this.”  
“I didn’t think I was either but then I met you. And I’m still alive, so that’s a plus.”  
“I also thought it was over with my love live. Not to compare to your reasons. But still…” She paused. “I think meeting you was the best thing that could have happened in those times."  
John wrapped an arm around her and went in for a quick kiss. “I love you.”  
“Love you too, John Kennex.”  
John kept walking with her, a smile on his face.  
“Do you think we will stay in this area for a longer time?”  
“I don’t know… Wwe have a decent set up now, but who knows what the future will bring. I kinda hope whatever war’s going on will end and we can start to really rebuild.”  
“I hope so too.”  
“Whatever happens....we’ll figure something out.”  
“I love how optimistic you are.”  
“I don’t have a choice… it’s either this or I shut down inside.”  
“Better don't shut down inside.”  
“Yeah....”. He paused and froze up. “.....do you hear that?”  
“What?” she asked quietly and stopped to listen. Now she could hear it too; the dron of planes growing louder and louder. “Fuck.”  
John looked at Natasha, horrified. The two had almost reached the town, and were just a few hundred meters away from the first buildings.  
“Let’s gear up and cover up, we won’t make it to the houses,” Natasha said, sounding calm all of a sudden.  
John grabbed his mask, put in on, and tried to cover any bare skin. Natasha got out her mask too and put it on, making sure it was on properly. Then she pulled out the makeshift cover they still had and covered her and John with it. Just in time as the planes reached them and the attack started.  
There was not much room under the tarp and Natasha was hugging onto John. “Why are they attacking at day again, if it is inefficient?”  
John held her tightly, trying to fight his panic. “I don’t know. Maybe because it is more likely to hit humans who are outside?”  
“Why do I even care. We should be safe under here and the attack will pass.”  
John rested his chin on the top of her helmet, holding her. The sounds of the raindrops dropping onto their cover and the deep sound of the engines of the planes made gave her chills and she was really glad John was with her.  
John did try to comfort Natasha, he wanted to make sure she was okay and he tried not to think about his own panic.  
The attack went on, one after another round of chemicals were sprayed onto them and everything around them. The tarp covered most of them and touched the ground almost everywhere around them, and their boots, who here partially exposed could take it.  
Suddenly Natasha felt something, it wasn’t there before: A tingling that soon grew into a burning sensation, it was located on her upper arm. She tried to figure out what was going on, without moving too much.  
The light was bad beneath the tarp, but John soon saw it. “Shit.” A few drops had made it through the tarp and soaked her sleeve. Very quickly, he pulled out a knife from his waist, cut off the soaked material, and covered Natasha’s burn with a gloved hand.  
“Thank you very much,” she said quietly when he was done. It sure now hurt like hell.  
“No problem. We can clean it once the attack stopps.”  
“Let’s hope there aren’t more leakes.”  
“Yeah…” he said softly. “You feeling okay?”  
“I think, I’m pretty scared and it hurts.”  
John nodded, hoping she would be okay.  
Once the rain stopped, , John stayed there for a bit, wanting to see if there was another round.  
Natasha didn't move and stayed close to him. She was trembling a bit but only because she was scared. She tried really hard to think about something nice, but it was hard.  
John could tell she was scared. “What about Eloise, for a baby name? I kind of like the sound of it....” John said, trying to distract her.  
“I love it. And what for a boy?"  
“My dad’s name was Edward. I’ve always liked the thought of naming a boy that if I ever became a dad. What do you think?”  
“I love it.”  
John could hear the planes go away....but then another buzzing sound. Drones. It sounded like they were headed for the town.  
“Fuck, that's new. We better stay under here. They work with a combination of heat signatures and facial recognition. We used them to kill enemies in the streets, they were only safe if they stayed inside. This is how a modern war is fought.”  
John took in a deep breath, trying to hold it together and not panic.  
“John, we got this. I dealt with this before.”  
“What do we do?”he asked, it was obvious how scared he was.  
“Stay hidden. Wait until they have moved past us. Although it would be better we were in an actual building. From the outside we look like a huge blob of heat and and the tarp covers our typical human shapes. They are made to rather not fire when they are uncertain.”  
John nodded, and held onto Natasha, hoping for the best.  
She said after thinking for a bit and listening to the humming of the Drones. “Maybe my chip still works. If that’s the case we should be absolutely safe.”  
“Chip?” John raised an eyebrow under his mask.  
“Russia chips their soldiers so an bot or drone never ever kills them by accident.”  
“Okay… What will they do if they find you by a non-chipped person… hypothetically?”  
“I don't know... But when we are as close together like this they won't risk to fire, since they could hit me by accident.”  
John nodded and hugged onto Natasha even tighter.  
“It's OK to be scared,” she said quietly through her mask. “I’m scared too and I love you so much.”  
“I love you too....”. He murmured. “More than anything....”  
They could hear how the drone grew louder and they moved above them. John tried to stay calm, and clung to Natasha. He didn’t want to die here, not after they had gone so far.  
“Breathe, we will be alright,” she said quietly, in an attempt to help him calm down.  
John nodded and tried to focus on his breathing. Inhale....hold....then exhale.  
After a few minutes the sound of the Drones was gone. Jurow carefully lifted the tarp a bit to see outside.  
“How’s it look?” John asked.  
“They are gone.”  
“Okay....should we move now?”  
She slowly nodded and pushed down her mask to see how the air was. John did the same, knowing that the poison dissolved very quickly especially by daylight.  
Natasha let the mask hang on the straps around her neck as she inspected her arm.  
John removed his hand from it and looked at it. “How do you feel?”  
“I'm alright I think, it just hurts a bit.”  
John nodded and went through their packs. “Want me to clean it?”  
“Well, it would be hard to do it by myself..."  
John nodded and slowly started to clean it, having learned a lot while helping Natasha.  
Natasha let him work, she didn't want it to hurt more or to get infected.  
“Tell me if I’m not doing something right, Okay?”  
“I will.”  
John kept going, cleaning and bandaging the burn, and then kissing Natasha’s forehead.  
“Love you.”  
“Love you too....very much.”  
She hugged him before starting to fold up the tarp to get it back into her pack.  
John stood up and looked around at the damage.  
“I can't believe humans do this..”  
“I know, every day it’s like we hit a new low in humanity.”  
“I hope it stops soon. And I hope that Russia won't invade, I've no interest on shooting Russians so they don't kill me first.”  
“I have no interest in shooting anyone right now.”  
“Same.” She looked around, they had arrived in town. “Where should we look first?”  
“Let’s see if we can find a pharmacy or a doctor’s office.”  
She kept scanning the street with her eyes, at the end of the street there was a big building. “Would a hospital work too?”  
“Yeah, do you see one?”  
She pointed down the road towards a big building.  
John looked like he wanted to kiss the ground. “Let’s go!”  
“Yeah.” She reached for his gloved hand.  
John squeezed her hand and made his way to the hospital with her.


	19. Chapter 19

They found the front door of the hospital locked. It was dark inside the lobby, they barely could see what was inside behind the glass door.  
John went through his pack, got some tools out, and tried to break in.  
“Had a rebellious streak as a kid, that tends to happen when your dad is a cop. So, we’re gonna have a hell of a time in about fifteen years or so.”  
“We can also try to get in via the ER…” Natasha proposed instead.  
John managed to unlock the doors as she said that. “Still got it....”  
She watched him. “That’s impressive.”  
Natasha went in first, holding her rifle with both hands. A sweet, but unpleasant smell, a familiar stench came towards them. She turned on the little flashlight, just to see the mess in the lobby.  
“What do we have? Corpses?” John asked, smelling it too.  
“Yeah,” she looked around, someone had set them up in rows left and right to the main path towards the counter. “At least twenty.” She couldn't help but be disgusted. She closely watched her steps, they were leaking onto the carpet floor. “They seem to be older than two weeks.”  
“Shit.” John was looking around, worried. “Clearly this was in use after the first attack… do you think there’s anyone else in here? Alive, I mean?”  
“I mean someone placed them like this, so it could be possible. But it is hard to tell. We have to be careful.” Natasha pulled up her mask again as she approached one of the rows, she wanted to figure out how they were killed, or what had killed them.  
“I think some of these were shot in the head,” he said, pointing at a few bodies with obvious holes in the head, “and they don’t have the burns the zombies have.”  
Natasha squatted down next to the body of a middle-aged woman. “Some seem to have injuries that look like they got them in the bombings and missile attacks. Still someone shot them into the head.” She got up and turned back to John. “Let’s hope we don’t run into whoever did this.”  
“No shit,” John said and made sure that his gun could easily be taken out.  
Natasha carefully headed down the path in between the rows towards the signs to look where which wards were. John followed her, looking around for any danger  
She started to walk upstairs. On the second floor she headed out of the stairwell, here it was completely dark.  
She froze as she saw a light: The light in one of the wards was on. The hospital had power.  
John looked worried. “Should we call out if anyone is around.”  
“I think we should be quiet,” Natasha whispered and turned off her torch.  
He nodded and made sure his weapons were silenced.  
Natasha headed down the hall towards the maternity ward, thankfully not the one with the light on. It was a horror show—bodies everywhere like in other places, some of them were newborns.  
John saw this, and took off his mask so he could throw up. Natasha reached for his hand, she had to try hard to stay focused.  
“Sorry,” John muttered. “Good thing I’m not a doctor.”  
“Yeah, you’re fine.” She squeezed his hand before letting go to start looking through the closets in the supply room. She started to pack the things that were on her list. John tried to help her, and tried not to think of the scene around him.... specifically, trying to not think of Natasha and the baby as among those bodies.  
“I'm sorry the hospital was a bad idea,” she said quietly. She was really sorry.  
“Did you find what you needed?” He sounded really uncomfortable now.  
“Yeah, but there are things on the chart in the hallway I wanna take too. If that’s okay for you.”  
“Let’s do it then.”  
“Thanks.” She said as she packed the last stuff away.  
She slowly stepped back onto the hallway. “If you wanna go downstairs and wait outside, that’s fine with me. Today is the wrong day to be badass.”  
“No, We need to stick together. I’m not trying to be badass, I’m just trying to get us both back to the camp alive and in one piece.”  
She stopped herself from raising objections. “Alright.” She was obviously worried about him. John was barely keeping things together but he knew they had a job to do.  
She headed down the ward’s corridor. Heading for the chart she had spotted. John followed her, keeping an eye out for any movement in the halls.  
She started digging through one of the charts, careful not to rupture the packaging. She started to pack sterilised scrubs and gloves along with other things that could be used in emergency surgery.  
John kept watching in the meantime, looking down the halls and making sure they were safe.  
But unbeknownst to them, they were watched. A man was hiding in the shadows, closely watching their movements. He had spotted Natasha’s injury.  
John was looking around, a bit paranoid, but didn’t see the man, yet.  
Natasha closed the cabin and zipped up her pack, she turned around to John.  
“Got everything?” he asked softly.  
“Yes, I thi--” She froze as she noticed something behind John. The man had hidden until now. But now he had stepped out, in his right hand, he was holding a revolver. It was not pointed at the two, yet.  
Natasha unconsciously reached for her rifle that was hanging on its strap over her shoulders.  
“You, step away from her,” the man said to John.  
John turned around, blocking Natasha from the man, taking out his gun. “Identify yourself,” he demanded.  
“My name is Jake Greenwood. She is injured, it just rained. You should really step away from her.” The man was in his thirties, dark hair and tall, unlike the two he was not wearing a mask.  
“We were under a shelter. She’s a doctor, and she had me clean it. She will be okay.”  
Greenwood didn’t believe John and raised an eyebrow.  
“Look, she has treated plenty of people with mild to moderate exposure to the rain. It only turns you into a zombie if you’re exposed enough to nearly die.”  
“I’m here with my wife and daughter, I can’t risk them. I want them to be safe.”  
“We have a camp, you can stay there,” John said and looked the man in the eye. “I’m trying to keep her and our child safe too.”  
The man swallowed. “I cannot come with _you_ ,” he said as he remembered what had happened in the first days of the war.  
“Then let us leave without incident!”  
“Do you have any idea, what you people have done?!”  
“You do you mean ‘you people’?”  
“Cops? The Military?”  
“I’m a cop who almost got killed by several cops and the military. Believe me, I probably have more in common with you than with the cops you saw. I’m just trying to keep my family and friends alive right now.”  
“They shot all the patients who would be hard to evacuate…”  
“Yeah, that wasn’t my call. Jesus, that’s fucked up.”  
Natasha decided to say something too. “Sir, I'm incredibly sorry for your loss but if you kill us you are not better than them. I understand you are angry but killing us won't help you. Just let us go.”  
John nodded, though Greenwood still had his gun on him, John couldn’t relax, yet.  
Greenwood swallowed but then stepped aside making room for the two go leave.  
John made sure he was still between Greenwood and Natasha. He was scared to death the man would lash out if he thought their guard was down.  
Jake Greenwood just stood there even though he had the anger boiling up again, but he didn't want to hurt the two specifically so he let them go.  
John kept going, blocking Natasha from Greenwood’s view. Nervously, he grabbed his girlfriend’s hand. She could feel his hand and how nervous he was even through their gloves.  
Once they got out of the hospital, John turned to her. “Do you have what we need for now?” He asked, ready to go home.  
Natasha only nodded, now by daylight looking utterly exhausted. “We can head home now.” She took off her mask again and hid it in its bag again.  
John nodded and wrapped an arm around Natasha, holding her close. “Why do you like me so much?” he asked softly.  
“Because you are you,” she replied with a smile on her lips.  
He smiled back, but there was still fear in his eyes.  
She could tell something was not right. “Talk to me, John.”  
“I’m scared of losing you, really scared,” he said after a short pause.  
“Because I’m pregnant?”  
“Not just that. I mean it’s on my mind, but I’m scared of losing you regardless.” He paused. “I’m not as strong as I’d like to be… I know this… and I’m sorry.”  
“Hey, there is nothing wrong with this. I'm, too, not as strong as I would like to be. But I know that compared to others you are incredibly strong and from what I know... One can never be strong enough to deal with war and all of the sorrow and fear that comes with it.”  
John nodded and started to tear up. He moved closer and kissed her forehead before holding her.  
“It's alright. It will be alright.” She knew that this was not really true, but she had to try to give him at least some hope.  
He knew, but it still helped.  
Natasha took off her gloves, and he did the same. Now they really could feel each other. John took her hand up to kiss it which caused Natascha to smile.  
“I’m so glad to be with,” Natasha quietly confessed.  
“Me too. I’m so grateful that you found me and didn’t leave.”  
She chuckled. “I’m sure you would have found a way without me.”  
“With one leg? Not likely.”  
“I was trying to boost your self-confidence but you seem to be resistant.”  
John laughed a little at that, which caused Natasha to smiled and squeeze his hand. He squeezed back and went to kiss her on the lips, she kissed him back.  
It took several hours until the pair arrived back at the school. They were immediately greeted by a crying Leo, who had gotten scared by them being out in the rain.  
“Leo! Hey buddy, good to see you.” She picked him up to hug him.  
Leo clung to Natasha, sobbing. “I was scared!”  
“I know. But you see, we are back now and we are alright.”  
Leo nodded and kept clinging to Natasha. John moved closer and rubbed the little boy’s back. “Thank you for being patient with us, buddy.”  
When they got up there, John gently took the boy from Natasha. “Hey, why don’t you tell me what you did with Sandra today?”  
Natasha smiled as she started to unpack all the things they had gotten. She felt done, she couldn't wait to have a shower and cuddle up with John and maybe Leo to relax a bit and then sleep.  
John sat with Leo and let the boy tell him all about his day. When Leo mentioned how scared he was, John said in a loud whisper “You wanna know a secret? I was really scared too.”  
Natasha smiled at this, almost tear eyes.  
“It’s okay to be scared when bad things happen but everything’s okay now. We’re all home and we’re okay.”  
“Yes that's right. Fear is important it's what keeps us alive.” She closed the closet and turned to the two.  
John ruffled Leo’s hair with a smile. “You’re a good kid, Leo.”  
“How about we have dinner, a shower and some rest?” Natasha asked the two.  
“Okay!” The little boy said, perking up.  
“Haha, okay let's find us something eatable then.” She took off her helmet and parked it on her desk.  
Leo went over and looked at the helmet. “You have one too!”  
“Yeah, I need it for work. Or I needed it...You wanna try it on?”  
“Yeah!” he chirped.  
“Okay…” She carefully put it on his head, of course, it was way too big.  
Leo thought it was great, and giggled.  
“Looking good, mate,” she said with a smile.  
“John! Can you see me?”  
John smiled. “Yep! You look big and strong!”  
Natasha chuckled, she carefully also put on the goggles that were usually on standby on her helmet. It had been part of her SWAT gear. “Now can you see me?” she waved to Leo.  
“Uh, no,” Leo said, the helmet a bit too big for him to see out of.  
She put the goggles back into their position. “Maybe in a few years.” She carefully removed the helmet, “Okay, big man, let's find some food!”  
“Yay!” The little boy chirped.  
She took his hand and they left the room.  
John followed, grinning. Some of his plants were producing food, but their diet was still based on synthetic food products. Thankfully, Dorian had extricated a bunch from a nearby grocery, so they weren’t running low.  
Natasha handed the boy his ration, she also took hers and John’s, so they all could eat.  
Leo chowed down happily, which made John feel relieved that the kid was okay.  
John thanked Natasha with a kiss. “Let me know if you need some of mine.”  
She smiled. “No thanks. Besides you need to eat too.”  
John nodded and dug into his ration, he watched her how she started eating, trying to enjoy the meal. He reached out and rubbed her back with a smile.  
“How are you doing,” she asked after she had finished her food.  
“Good… better, now that we’re back home. I don’t know if I want to visit that hospital again.”  
“I'm glad you are better, and I also don’t wanna go there again.” She gave him a hug.  
He hugged her back, smiling and then ruffled Leo’s hair  
“What do you guys think about getting some rest?” Natasha asked as she started to take off her outer gear.  
“Sounds great… that plus a shower beforehand,” John responded, as he did the same.  
Natasha nodded and John gave her a smile before he tossed her her towel and they both headed down to the showers. John grinned. If they weren’t in a literal shelter, he would have asked Natasha to join him but he didn’t need to scare Leo like that.  
After the shower, both of them felt relieved and the fresh clothes made them feel even better, they were both smelling nice. But the warm water had also made them feel tired. That’s why Natasha, John and Leo headed straight to their room. They would do the laundry tomorrow.  
John lay down, made room for Natasha and grinned when Leo joined them.  
Natasha reached for her pack, she had an idea. She pulled something out of it that looked like a mobile phone. She had turned it off when the attacks had started happening, maybe there was some battery left.  
“Does that thing still work?” John asked, amazed.  
She pressed the power button and waited. The display turned on. It seemed like it still did. She had made sure that it stayed intact and that she had packed it.  
John’s eyes lit up when he saw it. “Awesome!”  
She pulled up pictures, she always wanted to show him. Of her sister and Anton, of her mates when she was training and her first tour  
John watched, happy she could share this with him. “This is amazing, babe… I hope someday I can meet your family...”  
“I really wanted to show you these pictures, so you know a bit more about me. Since I'll be the mother of your child. Damn, I hope they are okay.”  
“I hope they are and I wish I had photos of my parents to show you... but my phone and my apartment got destroyed.” He paused. “I know they’d love you if they were here.”  
“I'm actually on bad terms with mine. My mum is absolutely rejecting me and my dad thinks I’m disappointed.”  
“Why?” John asked, rubbing her shoulder.  
Leo had fallen asleep between them, looking adorable.  
“They are high ranked in the army, both of them were generals when I left Russia. My sister is not able to follow their example and I wanted to be a doctor very badly. So becoming an army-doc seemed like a good compromise. I think they also just approved Dima because he was a reservist in our early years. After I had to leave the army, everyone was talking about what had happened and my parents thought I had shed a bad light onto them. They worked in Moscow so it was not that hard to avoid them.”  
John rubbed her shoulder and kissed her forehead. “You are an amazing person, ‘Tasha. And if they can’t see that, it’s their loss.”  
“Don't worry I'm already over it. Even though back then I was really hurt.”  
He nodded and kissed the top of her head. She turned off her phone again and set it aside. She got up and moved over to him, to not wake Leo. John wrapped an arm around her with a smile.  
She looked up at him and smiled.  
Her long hair was still wet from the shower but it didn’t seem to bother him in any way. “You are pretty,” John said in a whisper.  
“Thank you. You are good looking, too.”  
John kissed her and held her close. He could feel how she was getting more and more tired.  
Natasha sat up to grab their blanket and then covered all three of them with it as she lyed back down.  
John was exhausted, and it wasn’t long before he nodded off. She fell asleep rather quickly.


	20. Chapter 20

Early in the morning, it was still dark outside. Maybe it was three o’clock, Natasha was woken by the sound of planes. As she realised that it was real and not just in her dreams, she sat up and woke John. If this was a chemical attack, they had to make sure all windows were closed and secure, to minimise the danger for the group.  
Natasha got into her boots, the usual thrill of a nightly incident rushing through her. John had been fast asleep and needed a bit longer to wake up and orientate. Natasha hung over a cape, and left the room.  
She could hear Dorian running around, yelling at everyone to close up. She turned on her torch and went to check the infirmary and the unoccupied rooms. John followed her, Leo was still asleep.  
Everyone was waking up and getting ready and Dorian ran out to cover the garden, just on time as the planes reached them and started spraying their poison on them and the woodlands surrounding them.  
Natasha stayed at the garden door, right at the spot where she was safe. John caught up to her and hugged her from behind.  
She turned around and hugged him back.  
“Leo is still asleep,” John told her, softly.  
Dorian got back inside he was covered in chemicals and shushed the two to make room which caused Natasha to roll her eyes a bit. “Let’s go upstairs, at least one of us should be with him, in case he wakes up.”  
John nodded in agreement, he reached for her hand as the two made their way up the old oakwood stairs.  
John headed straight for their room, while Natasha checked everything once again. She froze at the infirmary window. The window was covered by black fabric, like all windows of the mansion were at night, so they wouldn’t be found. But she could hear the planes roar above them and the ‘rain’ pouring down on the mansion, the tarps over the garden beneath the window and the leaves of the trees around them.  
She let out a sigh and turned around to quietly head back to John and Leo. She carefully opened the door and closed it as quiet as possible.  
She took off her poncho and crawled back into bed. But Leo was starting to wake up and as soon as he heard the buzz that was going on outside, he started to cry.  
John tried to calm him down. Natasha repositioned herself at Leo’s other side so he was between them both.  
John was telling Leo a story from his childhood, and rubbed the boy’s back. He was telling Leo how his dad liked this old singer, Elton John, so much that John got his middle name from the singer’s real name. “Maybe some time I can find some of his music.... I used to be able to play a few songs on my guitar but I don’t have them anymore.”  
“His music is pretty good,” Natasha added. She looked very stressed and tired and had to try hard to stay awake.  
John saw Natasha nod off and took her hand in his, she squeezed back as she began to fall asleep.  
John started to nod off as well, curled up against Natasha and Leo.  
Natasha was having nightmares again, this time they were abstract. Little pieces and things that didn't make sense. She was relieved when she woke up from it, completely in panic mode but soon she started to realised that it had been just a dream and that none of it had been real. She didn't move much cause she could feel Leo curled up next to her. She tried to calm down and not to hyperventilate. What she had seen in the hospital the previous day hand unraveled some beasts inside her.  
John and Leo were both fast asleep, John even snoring slightly. After a few minutes, she had managed to calm down. But she had trouble falling back asleep, her thoughts were too busy.  
It was soon John’s turn to wake up, and he noticed Natasha was restless. “What’s up?”  
“Had a bad dream, now I struggle to fall back asleep,” she told him quietly.  
Outside the attack had stopped, it was dead silent outside.  
“So did I,” John confessed.  
“Do you want to talk about it?”  
“Seeing the bodies in the maternity ward got to me more than I wanted to admit. I just…. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”  
“I think for me it were the bodies there too. I mean it's not the first time I see something like that, but it still did something to me.”  
“Yeah.” John pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.  
“I’m really sorry.”  
“Don’t be. We couldn’t have expected that.”  
She moved a bit closer to embrace him.  
“Love you, babe....”  
“Love you too. I believe in us. We got this.”  
He took her hand and kissed the back of it.

***

Only a few hours later, it was proper morning now, John woke up next to Natasha but not Leo. That freaked him out. Natasha was still asleep, after that horror night, she really could use it. But John woke her: “Tasha?” he whispered. “Leo, is gone.”  
Natasha murmured something until she finally realised what that meant and was fully awake. “What?!”  
John was getting dressed and getting ready quickly. “I hope he just went to the bathroom.”  
“Yes!” She practically jumped up and got dressed quickly. “Let's look for him.”  
It wasn’t long before Dorian ran over-worried. “I was doing rounds and I saw small footprints in the dirt heading away from the building.”  
That caused John to take off. He was in dad-mode and scared for the boy. It had been only hours since the rain, there could be new zombies roaming through the streets.  
“John, we'll find him.” She put on her outer gear. “Maybe he just played a game. He can’t be that far.”  
“Shit..” John went into panic mode and tried to follow the footprints while calling out Leo’s name.  
“John!” Natasha said firmly and took his hand.  
He looked at her, scared. “What if another attack happens?”  
“We will have found him by then.”  
John nodded and tried to calm down though he was close to hyperventilating.  
She squeezed his hand as they followed the footprints. “Breathe, babe.” She tried to coach him.  
John nodded, trying to do so. “I just… I don’t want anything happening to him. He’s just a kid.”  
“Yeah, but we are more efficient when you are not panicking.”  
“I know. I know.”  
She gave his hand another squeeze and looked around. She froze as she heard something, a high pitched buzz. The drones were back.  
“Drones...” John whispered, the blood draining from his face.  
“You stay behind me. They can’t hurt him, he is a kid.”  
“I’m not so sure about that...”  
She went a bit faster towards the noise. “John, maybe you want to stay here…”  
“You sure?”  
“I just don't want anything to happen to you. Also, you are armed.”  
John nodded. “Okay...be safe, alright?”  
“Aye, sir.” She gave his hand a squeeze before letting go to walk around the corner of the street. Far ahead Natasha could see little Leo walking up the street, looking around. "  
“Leo!” she called out.  
Leo stopped and turned around, waving. “Natasha, I’m looking for my daddy!” He yelled back.  
“Please, come here. So we can look for your daddy together, okay?” she said that without sounding mad, though she was frowning.  
“Did you see him?” Leo’s face lit up as he walked over. “He said he was coming back… I wanted to see if he came back yet.”  
A drone was descending from the swarm, right above Leo.  
“I’m not sure.” She tried to hide how nervous she was, she kept running until she had reached the boy, so she could protect him.  
But the drone had little interest in them, instead it headed straight for John’s location.  
John saw the drone and dropped the ground in a panic.  
“What’s that?” Leo asked, sobbing.  
Natasha had picked up the boy and ran back to John. “Hey you!” she called out to get the drone's attention.  
It didn't seem like the drone had fired yet and as soon as it heard Natasha it turned around mid air. She made sure the drone wouldn't have a clear shot on Leo while she moved to stand in front of John, trying to protect him.  
The drone held its position, the little cam always facing Natasha.  
“Do you know who I am?” Natasha asked in Russian, trying to stay calm.  
The drone scanned her face and compared it to the databases.  
“Nataliya Alexejevna Jurow. Rank--Captain. Status--Retired. Number of decorations--5,” the drone responded with its artificial sounding, male computer voice.  
“I mean, what my job is.“  
“You are a surgeon.”  
“Correct. And you can tell this man is in distress? He is my patient. He is under my protection.”  
Silence. Natasha was preparing herself mentally to shoot the drone down and deal with the consequences.  
But then the drone turned away and made sure it would catch up with the swarm. Natasha was far from relaxing now.  
When John heard the drone fly away, he shakily sat up and looked at Natasha and Leo.  
She switched back to English when she scooted down next to John. “You hurt?”  
John shook his head, but he was clearly terrified. When he saw Leo, he pulled them both into a tearful hug.  
“It’s alright, breathe.” She carefully rubbed his back.  
John tried to take some slow, deep breaths, but he couldn’t help but cry.  
He looked at Leo and smiled. “Hey buddy, you okay?”  
Leo nodded. He clearly was disturbed by all of this but he was not hurt. “I want to go home,” he said.  
Natasha picked him up again.  
John nodded. “Alright, let’s go home.” He said, slowly standing up.  
Natasha continued carrying Leo and comforting him. She glanced at John a worried.  
John stayed close and rubbed Natasha’s back. When they arrived at the school, Sandra ran over to greet them. “Oh thank God you three are okay.” She had heard about the drone attack going.  
“I went to search for my Daddy,” Leo said, he seemed to have calmed down a bit.  
John nodded. And reached out to rub Leo’s back. “I know, buddy. But it’s dangerous outside.”  
“But I miss my dad. He said he would be right back, but--" his voice started to break. "But he didn't come back. And I miss him so much.” Leo started to sob again.  
John took Leo from Natasha and held him. “I know buddy… I know.”  
When they were inside Natasha made sure the door was secure and the followed the others.  
John rubbed the little boy’s back and tried to calm him down.  
“How do you feel?” Natasha asked John.  
John shrugged. “Okay....glad we’re all safe.”  
They went up to their room, where they could sit down. Leo sat down between Natasha and John, that way he felt safest. The blinds were still down, they couldn’t see outside, that made it comfortable for Leo.  
John quietly started telling Leo about his own dad’s death. Natasha sat there and listened, she started to grasp what had happened and how close it had been today. John didn’t go as far as tell Leo the boy’s dad was dead, but he did make very clear that Natasha and he would keep Leo safe.  
Natasha took off her helmet and got up to get the three some food.  
“What if my dad never comes back?” Leo asked, shyly.  
“Well then, I guess you’ll live with us then,” John said with a smile. “Can Natasha and I be part of your family?”  
The little boy nodded.  
Natasha returned with their rations.  
John looked at her with a smile. “Thanks, babe.”  
She handed their rations to them and then started to dig into her own food.  
Leo moved over and hugged Natasha. “Awww, come here.” She hugged him and kissed his forehead.  
Leo hugged her back. “I’m sorry, Natasha....”  
“For what?” she asked softly and stroked the hair out of his face.  
“For being bad.” He looked down, he was sorry.  
“Please don’t run away again, okay?”  
“I won’t. John said I could stay with you even if my daddy never comes back.”  
She nodded. “That's right, we will protect you and take care of you.”  
Leo smiled and hugged her.  
“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” she asked softly while hugging him.  
“I’m okay. I’m sleepy. And hungry.” He pulled away to get his ration.  
“If you want, you can have a nap after breakfast…” Natasha offered since she felt like she needed another hour or two too.  
“Okay!” he said with a smile.  
John reached over and ruffled Leo’s hair.  
Natasha finished her food and then took off the rest of her outer gear. In the fake light inside she looked even paler than she had looked outside.  
“How are you feeling?” John asked Natasha.  
“I’m still on alert, this was so damn close.”  
John nodded. “And physically?”  
“I’m really tired and exhausted and I feel nauseous again.”  
“Are you sick?” Leo asked, worried.  
“No, no. I’m not, even though I feel like it.”  
John paused. “Leo, can you keep a secret?”  
Leo nodded quickly.  
John whispered. “Natasha and I are going to have a baby....but you have to keep it secret for now.”  
Leo’s face lit up. “Okay! Can I be the big brother?”  
John smiled. “Absolutely.”  
Natasha laughed a bit at that.  
“My mommy is having a baby soon....maybe when she comes back, the babies could be friends?”  
John smiled and nodded even though he knew Leo’s mom was almost certainly killed in the attack.  
Natasha leaned back. She had finished eating and was now in danger of falling asleep.  
Leo yawned. “Can I take a nap?”  
John smiled. “That sounds like a good idea.”  
“I’m going to nap too. Let’s nap together,” Natasha offered.  
“Okay!” Leo chirped. He was a kid, he didn’t bother. At all.  
Natasha took off her outer gear, it was very uncomfortable to lay on it. But she kept her gun secured and close. She lifted the blanket so Leo could join her. Leo curled up next to her with a grin.  
She made sure he was comfortable, she was smiling. Glad that he and John were alright. She soon started to doze of. John curled up next to Natasha and Leo and fell asleep, worn out from the stress.

***

A few hours Natasha woke up, thanks to a nightmare. Again. She started wondering if this would ever stop.  
John was already awake and sitting up. When he saw Natasha, he frowned. “I’m sorry, babe, did I wake you up?”  
She shook her head. “No, you didn’t.”  
“Bad dream.”  
Natasha nodded and leaned back again. John scooted over to hug her, being mindful about Leo, who was still asleep. Natasha was glad that John was there for her and held him tight.  
“At least we’re safe right now,” John said softly.  
“I’m thankful for that,” Natasha answered just as quietly.  
John rubbed her back. “I love you, babe. You were amazing today.”  
“I only tried to use what I have to protect you and Leo. You would have done the same in my situation.”  
John held her close for a bit. “I’m sick of the drones and the danger.”  
“High key same.” She kissed him before getting up slowly.  
John let her get up and stayed seated. He looked at Leo and rubbed his back as the little boy slept. Natasha returned with a big bottle of water.  
She drank a bit and then handed it to John.  
John smiled and drank some. “Thank you.... that helps.”  
“No problem, you need to stay hydrated.”  
John smiled back at her.


	21. Chapter 21

-02 July 2048-

The group had returned to some sense of normality. Chemical attacks happened at night, mostly.  
“Do we need to go into the town today? Or soon?” John asked after breakfast, as he sat down next to his girlfriend.  
“Yeah, if you feel like you are up to it... I have a list with stuff we could use.” Natasha answered and got up.  
John got up too, to head towards the door to find Sandra, or maybe Valerie. “Alright... I’ll make sure someone sits with Leo.”  
“Good. Thank you. I'll prepare our packs in the meantime.”  
John got up and went to find someone to babysit Leo. Valerie was free and up for it. Both John and Natasha were already in their gear.  
Leo had woken up and started whining when he realizes the other two were leaving.  
“We will back in a bit. And we always returned, didn’t we?” Natasha looked at the boy.  
John knelt down and hugged the kid. “Hey, we’ll be back, okay. You need to watch everyone and the garden. You’re my deputy, remember?”  
She loved how cute John was with Leo. She smiled in her opinion the boy did great. Surrounded by people who he has just met, John and her armed all the time, the Drones and the Rain. She really hoped that Leo and the future baby would grow up to be great adults and not to be too traumatised to have a normal life. There were a lot of things Leo didn’t know, and a lot of it scared him. But, he knew John and Natasha were good, and so were many of the other people here.  
Natasha too hugged Leo and gave him a kiss on his cheek before leaving the school with John.  
John was visibly nervous but kept going. Natasha reached for his hand. She was nervous herself, constantly looking around. John squeezed it. He hoped this would go quickly.

Everything went smoothly until they were on their way back. It was getting dark already and suddenly shots rang out.  
John immediately moved to shield Natasha.  
She needed some time to figure where the shots were coming from. She dragged John with her behind the engine block of one of the few parked cars.  
“Fuck....now what?” John asked, sounding defeated  
“We wait until they reload and fire back.” She patted his shoulder.  
“Okay....” John made sure his gun was loaded and ready.  
She listed for a gap and then leaned out of her cover to fire at them. She could barely them, they were just figures. John frowned, trying to see how was there.  
It was quite clear that Natasha was good at this. After a few more bullets were exchanged there was silence.  
“Good job!” he said, softly.  
“Thanks. But we aren't sure if they are actually down.” She carefully stood up, hunched over she moved over to where the opponents had hidden, always staying close to possible spots that would prevent cover.  
John nodded and followed her, staying hunched over and behind cover  
She drew beard at their location as she approached. She saw the first one, down.  
“Are they done?” John asked.  
She hunched down to check. “Yes, they are. I feel like I've seen his face somewhere.” She pointed towards one of them.  
“Doesn’t ring a bell, but I could be wrong.”  
“I guess it doesn't matter. He is dead now. Damn, I hate this.”  
“Same....” John rubbed her back. “Do we head home now?”  
“We take their guns and other stuff.”  
“Sure. They would do the same to us.”  
“Exactly. And it helps our group.” She took their packs and searched their pockets.  
John did the same, carefully.  
Their opponents had been three white males, tattooed and rough looking. They seemed like they had been through a lot prior to coming up with the idea to try to kill John and Natasha.  
“I don’t want to judge just by looks but they seem like stereotypical thugs,” John said.  
“I mean, they tried to kill us.”  
“Yeah. But would they have done that in normal times? Who knows?”  
“We can't know…. Damn, I'm almost sorry.” She rose as soon as she had packed their stuff away. Looking around, obviously still on the watch.  
John looked around and wrapped an arm around Natasha. “What’s next?”  
“Let’s head back to the Mansion, it’s almost dark.”  
“Okay....” John still had his gun out, looking for any danger.  
Natasha still had a bad feeling, she held rifle pointed towards the ground but had it grabbed with both hands.  
John was clearly tense and didn’t relax until they reached the school.  
As soon as they were inside she put the safety back on and relaxed a bit. “Let's go through their stuff…”  
“Okay,” John said, softly.  
She left her gloves on as she emptied their opponents' packs in free space. As they did so, they could hear footsteps coming by. Leo had heard they were there  
Natasha turned around to face the door.  
“Hi!” Leo said as he ran in, Valerie following  
“Hey, Leo,” Natasha smiled, she was glad to see him.  
He hugged onto Natasha, and then John, grinning  
“What did you two do?” Natasha asked Valerie and Leo.  
“Coloured!” Leo showed them a drawing he did.  
“Wow, great job,” Natasha said after she had had a closer look at it.  
It was a picture of four stick figures. The two larger ones had red hair and brown hair, like Natasha and John. The third was small and had dark curls, like Leo. The fourth was tiny and bald.  
Leo whispered loudly. “It’s you and me and Uncle John and the baby.”  
Valerie, who could easily hear that, raised her eyebrows in shock.  
Natasha, who had known that Leo probably couldn't keep the secret for long, looked slightly embarrassed.  
John took a deep breath and pulled Leo in. “I thought I told you it was a secret.”  
“But I whispered!” The little boy said, clearly not realising Valerie could hear him.  
Valerie started to step away. “I, um, I think Rudy was asking for someone to help him with something.”  
In Natasha's head, one of the hardest things about being pregnant was the social aspect. She didn't like where this was going. Sure, she trusted Valerie but what if Leo told it someone else  
“Valerie, get over here,” John said, sighing. “Leo’s right….” He paused, feeling incredibly awkward. “I.... uh.... we.... well, Natasha and I have proven the ambush didn’t leave me shooting blanks.”  
Valerie laughed slightly, while Leo looked confused. Even Natasha grinned at that analogy.  
Valerie looked at the two surprised, then smiled a little. “That’s great.... though you do realise Richard will have a stroke at the thought of a baby Kennex.”  
“We are aware of that. But he will have to learn to deal with his feelings, cause I will fight.” Natasha gave her a grim look.  
Leo grinned. “I’m gonna be a big brother!”  
“Yeah, but you really can't tell anyone yet,” Natasha said to him firmly.  
“Oh....” Leo looked sad. “I’m sorry. I forgot.”  
“It can happen. I get it.” She looked at him with a brief smile.  
Leo went over and hugged her, glad she was back. She hugged him, hiding him close. She was still in her tactical vest so it had less of the feeling but still, she was glad to have him here. John watched this, smiling: it was adorable.  
She let go of him. “I need to finish something, I’ll be with you right away.”  
“Okay!” The little boy chirped.  
“Thanks, buddy.” She gave him a smile before she turned back to the loot.  
John smiled and hugged the little boy as well. “Go play with Valerie for a little bit, and then we’ll be done.”  
Natasha nodded in agreement. Leo nodded and walked off with Valerie, who waved good-bye to John and Natasha.  
“Adorable,” Natasha whispered before she went back to work.  
“He’s so cute.” John didn’t look up from what he was doing.  
“Indeed, he is,” Natasha said with a smile on her lips.  
John slowly started going through the items and found some dangerous weapons. Natasha found other things in the pack she was looking though: Sun cream, clothes, protein bars and stuff that looked like loot from a jewellery-shop. It was all shoved into a plastic bag.  
There were some rings in there, which made John smirk a little. “I didn’t think there would be a market for this in the apocalypse.”  
“Unlikely. Maybe they stole it when everything started, when things weren’t that bad.”  
John found a small ring with green stones. “I think this will look good on you.”  
Natasha looked at him. “It feels wrong to take it.”  
“I agree, but I’m not sure where to bring it back to.” He put the ring back. “Sorry, just idle thoughts.”  
“You are right, though.” She paused. “What did your guy have?”  
“Weapons, mostly weapons, some medicine.”  
“At least something of use.”  
John nodded and started to sort everything. After they were done sorting and storing everything, Natasha took off her gloves. John did the same and went to tell Sandra what they found.  
Natasha kept sitting there for some time, but then sighed, stretched and got up to check on Leo.  
Leo was drawing his old house where he lived with his parents. Natasha stopped right behind him and watched him over his shoulder.  
“That’s my house.” He pointed. “And that’s the trees near us. I like playing there.”  
“You miss it?” Natasha asked as she pulled out a chair to sit down next to him.  
“Yeah... I wanna go back. When we left the roof was missing. Daddy said we’d have to go somewhere until they fixed it.... but we had to find my mommy first.” Leo paused. “Is that where he went? Is he fixing our house?”  
“I don’t know, buddy. You know, I miss my place too.”  
“What did your house look like?”  
“I can't draw, but I can describe it to you. It is a flat with two floors and the roof where you could get onto. The outside is painted with dark red paint and it has white windows and borders. I lived there with someone. But the house next to me went boom and my house is very broken now.”  
“Mrs Kim’s house went boom too. I could see it when we left. I hope she’s okay.”  
“Yeah…. I hope so too. I hope she is okay. I couldn’t find her. I miss her a lot.”  
“Is she your sister,” Leo asked.  
“No.” Natasha chuckled. “She’s my friend for many years. Though I have a sister.”  
“What’s her name, then?”  
“Kate Vashchenko.”  
“Kate…. K-a-t-e?” he asked with a smile.  
“Yes. That’s the short, americanised version of her name.”  
“Yay!” Leo said, proud he could spell it. “What’s her real name then?”  
“Yekaterina.”  
“Yeah. True. That's why I call her Katya for short or Katyusha if she's mean.”  
Leo giggled. “My real name is long too... it’s Leonard.” He drew out each syllable.  
“Do you know what your name means?”  
“I don’t even know how to spell Leonard... I keep trying and I mess it up”  
“L-e-o-n-a-r-d. It’s German, it means lionheart. It's a very strong name.”  
“L-e....”. Leo very slowly started spelling the name.  
Natasha watched him, happy.  
Leo clapped when he finished. “Did I spell it right?”  
“It was perfect. Well done.”  
“Yay!” The little boy cheered. “I’m gonna spell your name now....N-A-T.....”. He paused. “.....S?”  
“A first and then S….”  
“A....S....H....A?” He asked.  
“Exactly.”  
“Yay! And John is J-O-H-N!” Leo said with a grin.  
“Yes! You are doing great.”  
Leo giggled and jumped up and down. Then he stopped and looked like he was thinking. “I don’t know anyone named Natasha.”  
“Do you know anyone named Nathalie?”  
The kid nodded.  
“Nataliya is the Russian version of Nathalie. And Natasha is the small form of it. Kind of like Leo is the small form of Leonard.”  
“Okay....” Leo looked confused. “Russia’s big, right? It’s across the ocean?”  
“Both correct. It is the biggest country in the world.”  
“How long does it take to go there?”  
“Depends on how you want to go there.”  
“Can you drive there.”  
"No. I don't think so."  
“Can you fly there?”  
“Yes, to my hometown you fly for several hours and then it is best to take a train, which takes some more time.”  
Leo’s eyes went wide. “That’s a long time!”  
“Yeah, but if you really wanna go there, it passes rather quickly.”  
“Wow.... what’s Russia like?  
“Russia has lots of nature and little people. Where I lived, it's rather cold compared to here and there are endless forests. We also have wolves and bears.”  
“Ooooh!” That last part got the boy’s attention.  
“You like animals?” Natasha asked with a smile.  
“I love animals! I love going to the zoo!”  
“If possible we can go to Russia one day and go see animals in the wild… Trust me it is nothing like the zoo. It is way cooler.”  
Leo jumped up and down, excited for that.  
“Not now though.” She looked out of the window, she didn’t know if this would be ever possible.  
John entered the room after reporting to Sandra. “Well, you guys look excited.”  
Leo ran up to him. “I wanna go to Russia and see the animals!”  
“I said ‘one day’,” Natasha said firmly.  
John gave Leo a smile and hugged him. “We can’t right now. But when we can, we will.” John explained to him.  
“How long do we have to wait?” Leo asked.  
“Probably a bit longer.”  
Leo looked sad.  
“But then we have something to look forward to, right?”  
“Right!” the boy answered, seeming to cheer up a little.  
Natasha ruffled his hair, with a smile.  
“Well, until then.... wanna help water the plants?”  
“Yes!” the little boy yelled. Completely excited for his task.  
Natasha set him down so he could go with John.  
Leo ran over and grabbed John’s hand to go to the garden with him. Natasha sighed and made sure she had finished her work before going to see how the other group members were doing.  
John had thought up a new game to help Leo with counting. He had no idea what kids Leo’s age should be learning, but the other survivors were able to give him help in that regard. Natasha tried to teach him Russian and a few survival skills the boy could use in case he got lost. She had no experience in being a teacher, but she was doing her best.  
It turned out that Leo also knew some Spanish. His mom’s family came from Puerto Rico, though he called it “Porto Ricko”.


	22. Chapter 22

-17th July 2048-

A little over two weeks later, things were fairly calm at the high school. There were attacks outside, but the building was intact. For safety’s sake, Dorian ran any trips too far from the buildings to find survivors or supplies.  
Natasha thought that a place outside of towns would be safer since it would not likely be bombed.  
John agreed, and he discussed taking a team with Dorian to get a better sense of the area. Only to hear the low drone of planes.  
“Shit….” he cursed.  
“I’ll check where Leo is,” Natasha said and ran to find him, but Leo was in the doorframe already.  
Leo ran to them, scared, and hugged onto Natasha.  
“It’s alright!” She lifted him up to hold him when she heard the first explosions in the distance.  
“Shit!” John tried to push everyone nearby to a safer place in the building.  
She held onto Leo, wanting to protect him and make sure all people were coming to the safer place.  
There was a loud boom nearby, and Leo started bawling, scared.  
“I’ll protect you, kiddo. It will be alright.” Natasha carefully went under a table and put Leo down on the floor, staying above him. She was wearing her tactical gear and could take a few hits without getting seriously hurt. Plus the table was another layer of protection from debris.  
She watched how John ran off to the direction where he heard screams coming from. He was followed by Dorian.  
There were another boom and some shaking, debris started to fall down, but the two were protected by the table.  
Leo was really scared and started sobbing.  
The attack lasted under a minute, but it felt like ages. Finally, the booms and the shaking stopped. The air was filled with dust, and they could hear Sandra coughing and ordering everyone to evacuate.  
“I’ve got you, buddy. I’m wearing my armour, like a knight.” She got up slowly, coughing. She had to get Leo out of here. “Keep your shirt over your mouth…” She carefully helped him pull it up.  
Leo was still crying, he asked where John was. He clung onto her.  
“He’s probably outside with the others.” Natasha hurried, she carried the kid outside and looked around to see who was out and who was still inside.  
Leslie and Carol were helping people out but there were plenty of injuries. It soon came out that part of the building had collapsed.  
John was nowhere to be seen and neither was Dorian. Natasha set Leo down with Valerie and ran back inside.  
At the end of the hallway, there was some debris being pushed aside and soon a dust-covered Dorian came out, he was carrying a groaning John.  
“It looks worse than it is,” Dorian said as soon as he saw Natasha. “John got his synthetic leg caught and it twisted so he can’t walk.... but other than that he’s fine.” He gently put John down outside and looked at Sandra. “Permission to go find survivors.”  
Sandra nodded. “Go!”  
Natasha wanted to go with him very badly but there were people outside who needed medical attention. Except for the supplies she had in the pockets of her vest, everything was still inside the building. This could get tough.  
She glanced at John, he seemed to be in pain. She frowned.  
John saw Natasha and nodded. “I’ll be okay.... check on the others.” He sat up a bit and pulled off his fake leg to help with the pain.  
Natasha triaged the people, those who were in the worst state would be first. She was glad that Leslie and Carol were around to assist. They were very helpful and were able to start treatment on the most injured once they were triaged.  
While Natasha worked she kept glancing at the entrance to see if Dorian was returning with more injured people.

 

Dorian came back with a few very injured people but he looked less than enthused. After a while, he came back with a frown. “I can’t find any signs of life in the damaged part. I think anyone else who was there is dead.”  
Natasha nodded, looking around who was missing. She counted the people present and three were missing. She cursed softly. “What about food, medicine. Do you think we can get it out? We were quite good at supplies and I just don't want it to be lost.”  
“I can salvage a good deal of it.... it just might take a while. Let’s find shelter first. Wanna see if that mansion is okay?”  
Several miles north in what was already Oregon the group had discovered a mansion in the woods, they hadn’t scouted it fully, but it seemed to be uninhabited and large enough to hold all of them and maybe a bit more.  
“Yeah, our best chance. Let’s try to get everyone ready to move. One of you go find a bus or a truck, that is still intact.”  
Rudy nodded and walked with Dorian around the school to find something.  
One of the guys who were in the red category had a pneumothorax and Natasha had to decompress his chest. She had done it more often than she could count but it worried her that she (presumably) was the only doctor in a five-mile radius and that there was no working hospital where he could receive proper treatment. She had no scanners to make sure he would be okay, apart from Dorian.  
They could hear the sound of a moving vehicle coming their way... Rudy found a beaten up school bus that could still run.  
Natasha looked up for a second before she checked the man's vitals again.  
John was sitting up, trying to keep Leo calm and from running around. “How is he?” he asked as he saw her concerned frown.  
“His chances are pretty good.”  
“Good,” John said, relieved.  
Dorian hopped out of the bus. “Alright...time to get on.“  
“Can you help me to get him up?” she asked Dorian.  
Dorian nodded and helped her to pick up the injured man and to carry him inside the bus. They carefully but him down across several seats in the back of the bus.  
Natasha got off the bus to help others onto it.  
John had to rely on the help of someone. He was still unable to walk.  
She helped the last few people inside. And then went to Rudy.”Can you drive this thing?”  
“Yeah,” Rudy said, looking confident. “Everyone onboard?” Rudy asked.  
Natasha turned around to see if anyone was outside. “Seems like everyone is on.”  
Rudy nodded and shut the doors. All the survivors were on board, and Dorian and some of the others were able to get a load of supplies in the back. Dorian offered to lead a team to get more supplies once they found a safe spot.  
Natasha had to care for the injured people, for now, being in battle mode. “Dorian, do we know our new place is secure? Should Sandra and Valerie and I do a search first?”  
“We don’t know yet. Sandra, Valerie and I will go. You are needed by the injured.”  
She nodded.  
John was sitting on a bus seat, pained but not badly hurt. He managed to clean some of the scrapes on his leg himself while telling Leo a story to distract the boy.  
Natasha checked on the badly injured guy again, lucky his state had not worsened. She looked over to John and saw what he was doing. “Do you need a hand?”  
“Yeah... That would be great.” When John’s prosthetic leg got caught, it twisted and scraped him, not unlike what had happened when he first met Natasha. His prosthetic was nearby, a bit messed up but hopefully fixable.  
She kneeled down in front of him and cleaned his wounds. “Does it hurt a lot?”  
“A bit,” he said with a sigh. “I’m fucking useless, aren’t I.”  
“No, you aren’t. Right now you are there for Leo, for example.”  
“I just wished I could have helped more people get out.”  
“It's not on you, John,” she said and gave him a pat on his shoulder. She looked at Leo.”How are you feeling, little bug?”  
Leo was still pretty shaken and was hugging onto John. “I’m scared, mommy....” he said very quietly.  
“It's OK. John and I are here,” she went to hug the little boy. She had noticed that he had called her mommy, she just didn't know how to react to it except to be happy about it.  
Leo hugged onto Natasha, crying a little. She gave Leo a kiss on his forehead.  
John reached over and patted the boy’s back. “We’re here.... we’re not leaving.”  
The little boy whimpered but soon calmed down a bit more.  
Natasha was glad that he calmed a bit down but she stayed with him for a bit longer before checking on the injured people again.  
The man had trouble breathing again and Natasha gestured Dorian to come over to her, maybe he could tell her what she had missed.  
“Internal bleeding,” Dorian said, immediately. “He has a fractured rib that punctured a blood vessel.”  
Natasha turned to Dorian. “Everything I need is back at the school, I need to do surgery.” Then she turned to the man. “Rodger, we’ve got you. I’ll do my best to help you. I will need to fix your internal bleeding, for that purpose I will need to put you under. It is always connected with risks, but it is the only way.”  
The man nodded, still shaky, he was not well. He was pale, cold and sweaty, his blood pressure was dropping.  
“What do you need?” Dorian asked.  
“I need what it takes to put him under, open him up and fix him. Sterile gloves, my set of utensils and a suitable place, at least.”  
Dorian nodded and jumped out a window, running at surprising speed towards the school. He went as fast as he could, hoping he could find the supplies and get them back to Natasha in time  
Natasha nodded, impressed. She hoped the Rodger had a chance, they had lost too many today. She looked around at the others on the bus, worried. Most of them were still shaken, some of them looked at her and the Rodger but tried hard to don't stare.  
Leo was sitting on John’s lap. “Daddy, is that guy gonna be okay?”  
“Let’s hope so,” John said softly. He rubbed the boy’s back and tried to distract him as the bus kept going.  
Natasha wondered how she would explain death to the kid. It was a hard topic. She could say that they go to a better place. Natasha took a deep breath and then got up from her kneeling position. “Everyone, I need to perform abdominal surgery, under field conditions as soon as Dorian is back with what we need. Is there anyone who would like to assist me with that?”  
Leslie stood up. “You have me.”  
“Great, one more. Some who can ventilate him and keep a look at his vitals.”  
Valerie raised a hand. “I admit I have no medical training, but I’ll help, however.”  
“Thank you. I’ll tell you what you need to do and your learning curve is pretty steep.”  
Valerie shrugged. “Well, I don’t get queasy from blood and I’m not hurt, I might as well help.”  
Natasha smiled at her briefly.  
“I’m gonna keep going to the house,” Rudy called out. “Dorian knows where it is, he found it.”  
Rudy took a bit longer but finally got to the house.  
Sandra tapped Richard and Joe (another survivor who was in the military) to help her check the parameter. There was a security system but Rudy managed to turn it off quickly.

Once the main building was secured, they put Rodger down on the kitchen table, she prepared what she could so things would go faster when Dorian arrived.  
It only took a few minutes until Dorian arrived he looked exhausted. “Charge is low, I came as fast as I could. I’ll go charge now.”  
“Thank you for your help.” Natasha took the things and started the prep everything before she and Leslie scrubbed in and showed Valerie how to do it.  
Natasha started to put Rodger under, he was not very conscious already at this point. From now on he wouldn’t be able to breathe on his own and it was important that Valerie was ventilating him. She knew that nothing of this was how it should be, but also this was no hospital setting while still being better than a place outside or on the bus.  
Dorian went outside and Leo ran to get him a blanket before going inside and chilling with John in one of the Mansions living rooms.  
The place had seemed to be owned by preppers who had been utterly well prepared. People went through the house, worried about finding an angry homeowner until John shuffled in on makeshift crutches and saw something on their calendar. “Shit.....they were at the firearms convention downtown in LA, they were right at ground zero when the bombs hit.”  
Meanwhile, Valerie was trying to do her best when assisting the two medical professionals.  
Natasha started to do the incision. She had done this procedure a couple of hundred times but never under these conditions. She was glad that Leslie seemed to be of good assistance.  
There already was plenty of blood in the abdomen, Natasha had to find the injured blood vessels, clamp and then suture them. It was very fine detail work and the need to focus one hundred percent.  
She had to confess, it was a mess and probably not worth it, Rodger’s chances were pretty low. She was suturing one-handedly while she glanced at Valerie.  
Valerie looked very calm, though inside she was feeling a little chaotic. Still, she did evening Natasha and Leslie told her to do. She was not enjoying this but she knew the importance of her tasks.  
When Natasha had finished the sutures, she removed the clamps to see if everything was working out alright. Leslie looked at her since most of her face was hidden under the surgical mask it was not clear what she was thinking, probably she was hoping for the best.  
Meanwhile, Natasha was glancing down at her work trying to see if there had to be done more. She started to try and stabilise the ribs, this, on the other hand, was something normally a trauma surgeon would do, everything that had to do with fractured bones.  
“We gotta makes sure he is getting antibiotics after this, risk of infection is pretty high,” Natasha said without looking up.  
“Since we lost everything, we should go to the town that is north-west of here, when I saw it on the map it looked pretty big. It could have a hospital we could check….”  
“Yeah, we should get on doing that. I mean one of us should stay with Roger to monitor him, we will find someone who will go.” Natasha was working on the last smaller steps.  
“We will.”  
“I’m done, let’s close him up.”  
Leslie nodded and prepared everything, so Natasha could work on that.  
Natasha started to close up the incision, she was an artist when it came to sutures. She was always trying to make them in a way they would heal optimally and only leave minimal scarring.  
The other two watched her work and Natasha was glad when she had finally finished.  
Leslie started to cover the wound with a sterile dressing.  
“That was amazing,” Valerie said, in awe.  
“Just doing what I can,” Natasha said and looked at her.  
When Leslie had finished the dressing she checked Roger’s vitals. “Do me a favour, Roger, please don’t die on us cause we did our best.”  
Natasha nodded. “Thank you two very much for your help.” She pulled off her gloves and changed into another, not sterile pair to start and clean up the mess they made. “Valerie you were great.”  
Valerie nodded and swallowed hard. “That was intense.”  
Leslie nodded and patted Valerie’s shoulder. “You kicked ass though.”  
“Yeah, you did,” Natasha agreed. She took over for Valerie. She would stay with him and ventilate him until the propofol would have lost its effect.  
Valerie nodded. “And I, even more, respect for your work... If that were possible. God, I hope Sandra’s booze survived the bombing.”  
“If that’s the case enjoy it for me,” Natasha said, she couldn’t drink.  
Valerie nodded and Leslie, who also knew, patted Natasha’s shoulder.

A little later, Sandra walked over, having found a bottle of whiskey in the house. “Come on ladies, you deserve this.” She didn’t know that Natasha was pregnant.  
“No, thank you, Captain. Nothing for me.”  
Sandra poured a glass anyway. “You’ll be fine, Natasha. You can relax now.”  
Leslie and Valerie looked at each other than at Natasha.  
Natasha looked at Sandra. “Ma’am, I’m pregnant.”  
Sandra froze and put the glass away. “I guess I’ll drink that for you. How far along are you?”  
“Still in the first trimester.”  
“John’s the father.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
John was outside in the hallway and entered as he had heard that the surgery was over. “And I’m pretty excited about it,” he said with a small smile.  
Sandra, who hadn’t expected him to be there turned around to John.  
Natasha kept being with Roger and gave John a smile.  
John looked at everyone. “You all okay?”  
“Yeah.” With her free hand, she gestured towards Roger. “He is doing a bit better.”  
John smiled at his girlfriend.  
“How is Leo?” Natasha asked.  
“Good. He brought Dorian a blanket for his ‘nap’,” he said with a grin.  
Natasha smiled. “He’s a good boy.”  
“Indeed.”  
Natasha stopped bagging for a second and held the back of her over Rodger’s nose and mouth to see if he was breathing on his own, yet.  
John raised an eyebrow. “Is he okay?”  
“Yeah, it seems like the anaesthesia is wearing off.”  
John nodded. “Is there anything I can do?”  
“John, you’re on one leg right now,” Sandra said with a sigh. “Just focus on keeping out of trouble so you can see your child.”  
“Really, babe, I’m fine. Go and get some rest,” Natasha added.  
John nodded and shuffled out to the living room.  
Natasha looked a bit sad for a second before checking on Rodger again.  
“What’s wrong?” Valerie asked, softly  
“What?” Natasha said, confused about the question.  
“You look sad.”  
“Yeah. John is just a marshmallow and I can’t see him hurt.”  
Valerie nodded. “Well, he now has three reasons to avoid being hurt. You, Leo, and the baby.”  
“He was very protective from the beginning. And it is usually me who shields people from debris.”  
“That’s how he is. I don’t know if that will change but now he has more reasons to not take unnecessary risks.”  
“I gotta stop being reckless too. And that will be hard to get used to. It’s just how I am, you know?”  
Valerie nodded and patted her shoulder.  
“How are you feeling, Valerie?” Natasha then asked her.  
“Alright. I’m holding up. That was intense.... but I’m glad I could help.”  
Natasha turned to Valerie to give her a hug. “You did great,” she said quietly.  
“You too. Better go be with John.”  
“Okay,” Valerie said. She went over to check on John and Leo. John’s leg was brought in, and he was examining it for what needed to be fixed.  
Natasha stayed with her patient, to monitor him and to make sure he was not getting any worse.


	23. Chapter 23

Leo soon got up and walked over to Natasha. “Hi!”  
“Hey, little man.” She lifted him up so he could sit on her lap.  
“Whatcha doing?” he asked with a smile.  
“I’m sitting here and watching Rodger sleep.”  
“Does he need a blankie like Dorian?”  
“I think the one he has right now is good enough.”  
“How long is he gonna sleep for?”  
“I don’t know yet, we will see. Probably a few more hours. He needs a lot of rest.”  
“I hope he has a good dream.”  
“Me too. Maybe I should give him a shot so he is not in pain when he wakes up.”  
“Why does he hurt?” Leo asked and looked closer at the man. He seemed a bit pale and had a few smaller scrapes and cuts.  
“He got hurt when the school went boom.”  
“I hope he feels better soon,” Leo said and stroked Rodger’s hair.  
“Me too.”  
Leo leaned back and hugged onto Natasha. “Will this place go boom?”  
“No. That is very unlikely. The mansion is hidden in between the trees.”  
“Okay,” the boy said, sounding scared. “I like trees. I liked to play in the woods near our house.”  
“Sounds great.”  
“It’s fun.”  
“When I was younger I spent most of my free time in the woods.”  
Leo smiled. “What did you like to do?”  
“Build little shelters, watch birds, play games with my sister, though she was not home a lot since she went to school far away from the town I lived in.”  
“Ooooh. I like to watch animals. I told my dad when my sister got big, she could play with me in the forest too!”  
“I'm sure you are gonna be a great big brother.”  
“I hope so. I don’t know when my mommy at home is having her baby, but I can play with your baby when it gets big!”  
“Sure, Leo.” Natasha tried not to think about the fact that both his mum and her sister were probably not alive anymore.  
“Yay! Is it a boy or a girl?”  
“We don’t know. We prefer to not know until it is born.”  
“When’s that?” Leo asked, curious.  
“Not for a long while, kiddo,” John said with a smile. Natasha was not even showing.  
Natasha turned to John. “What do you think of the mansion.”  
“I like it someone found an old crib.”  
“Great. Means we don’t need to steal too much from IKEA. When I look around I get the feeling that the previous owners were pretty paranoid. I mean they have several backup systems and reinforced doors.”  
“No kidding. And there are plenty of supplies, though I think Dorian plans to get supplies from the school once he recharges.”  
“We also could get a problem once it gets colder outside.”  
“Yeah, we’ll work on that when it comes,” John said with a sigh.  
Natasha got up, set Leo down and when to John to give him a kiss.  
“Love you, Nat,” John said and smiled.  
Leo watched and giggled.  
“Wait, little man, I'll come for you next.” She let go of John.  
“No!” Leo said with a giggle as he tried to run away.  
Natasha laughed and went after him.  
John watched and grinned, unable to go after them on crutches.  
As soon as she had reached him she lifted him up. Leo giggled but didn’t fight it. She hugged him and kissed his forehead. “I love you, Leo.”  
“I love you too, Mommy!”  
Once Dorian was recharged, he and Rudy used the school bus to transport supplies to their new home. Dorian was able to salvage a large amount, but some were either impossible to get to or damaged beyond use.  
Luckily, the home was well stocked as well— the owners had apparently planned to hide here with their extended family in case of a disaster.  
Natasha was incredibly glad that they had done so. But it was clear that they had to go out for supplies soon, in order to don't run low and always have some in stock. John was helping to figure out where the nearest towns were. The house was in the middle of nowhere, but there were a few places they could walk to and from within a day.

-29th August 2048-

Summer passed rather quickly. The mansion seemed to be well hidden in the woods, and except a few chemical attacks that kept going down over the area, it stayed quiet. Over time they had restructured the rooms and what they were used for. There were a few group members that were great fixing and crafting things. They had set up an infirmary and stocked up on medical supplies from a vet clinic in the town nearby. This was the best setup Natasha had since the war started, even better than the small cramped room back in the high school.  
They had also made sure to cover all windows with black curtains so there was no light giving away their location at night and they had changed the interior of one of the towers in order to make it a good watch post, it made it easier to see most of the area around the mansion. An additional sat on the balcony right above the main entrance.  
The group had also worked on reinforcing the fence and including a big main gate to make sure nobody could enter the property without getting noticed by one of the guard posts. The group had grown a bit more. There was Hugh and his husband Paul. Hugh was a botanist and Paul an engineer. One of the supply run teams had met them and taken them to the mansion.  
“We should restock on food and I need clothes I fit into.”  
“Sounds good,” he said with a smile, “we’ll just have the tell Leo we’ll be away.”  
“He won’t like it. That’s for sure.” Natasha frowned a bit.  
“I know but he has to learn that it is something we have to do.”  
“Maybe we can bring him something he will enjoy, new crayons and a colouring book.”  
“Maybe some books as well,” John added.  
Natasha smiled and watched how John left, when he came back he was with a sad Leo.  
Natasha knelt down and pulled the boy into a hug.  
“I don’t want you to go,” Leo said between sobs.  
“We are back soon. I’m sorry, we need to get stuff.”  
Leo pouted, so John knelt down too and hugged the boy as well. “We love you. We will back in a few hours.” John ruffled Leo’s hair and kissed to top of his head.  
“I don’t want to be left alone again,” Leo said quietly.  
“You won’t be alone. Uncle Dorian and Aunt Sandra and Aunt Valerie are here. Mum and I will be right back, we promise.”  
Natasha nodded in agreement.  
Leo pulled away and went to Sandra, looking back at John and Natasha as he went.  
“Ready to head out?” John asked Natasha. Who nodded as she grabbed her bag.  
The two left the mansion. It was cold outside, the wind was pretty strong.  
John shivered a little, he remembered that his favourite jacket had been lost in the attack.  
“Are you cold?” Natasha asked him as she put an arm around her boyfriend.  
“A little,” John answered. “I just remember that my favourite jacked was probably vapourised in the first attacks.”  
“With a bit of luck, we will find you a new one.”  
“It’s alright and it’s just an object. I’m just glad that the people I love are alright. “  
“I don’t want you to be cold.” She had not meant it that way.  
John shrugged. “Well then, let’s hurry up so we can get back.”  
“Alright.” She sped up a bit.  
The house was in the true middle of nowhere, but they were but there was one major path out, which the two followed until they were on the huge field just outside the town. They were staying close together and were always on the watch for potential threats.  
“Have I ever told you how surprised I was about how prepared you were to leave quickly when this all started?” Natasha said after a while.  
“I’m paranoid, remember? Though, I was expecting to attacked by Anna and her mafia and not a world war.”  
Natasha chuckled a bit. “Well, I’m glad I’m not alone with this. I don’t know what exactly it was that I was expecting, though. War shaped me more than I like, I guess.”  
“I can’t say I was expecting war, but after I lost my leg, I’ve secretly expected everything up to that.” He squeezed Natasha’s hand. “It’s nice to find someone who gets it.”  
She smiled at him briefly. “I’m scared about how life will be when the baby is here.”  
“Well, it will be different but we’ll make it work. And we are not alone. I think Leo and the baby now have a dozen aunts and uncles.”  
Natasha nodded. “I’m grateful for that.”  
“Same here.”  
Natasha looked up at him when he said that and smiled. John smiled back at her and squeezed her hand again as they walked.

***

A little later they arrived in the town’s centre. John looked around to figure out which damaged building was safe enough to visit first.  
“What do you think?” Natasha asked softly as she looked around as well.  
“There is a convenience store nearby. It is fairly intact. Might as well try to check it out first, see what we can get and what they are missing, then go a little farther into town.”  
“Alright, let’s do this.”  
John nodded and made his way over there, followed by Natasha.  
John looked around when they entered. “Let’s sweep the building first to make sure we aren’t surprised,” he said quietly.  
Natasha nodded, she had her gun out, being in cop mode. She was moving how she had learned it in tactical training. She carefully peeked around a corner of the aisle, when she saw a figure at the end of the aisle, facing away from her.  
John froze and motioned for Natasha to come closer to him. She raised her gun at the person and did so. The person turned around and snored, clearly a zombie. Natasha fired as soon as she saw that, knocked the zombie down. The gunfire had attacked others, one of them reached through the shelves and tried to grab Natasha's arm.  
John saw that and fired at the zombie near Natasha, trying to get between it and her.  
Natasha tried to take out the other zombies, John fired at any creature he saw, trying to keep the two of them safe. Natasha secured the aisle behind them while John took the other side.  
“I don’t see any more,” he whispered.  
“My side’s clear as well,” Natasha answered, just as quiet.  
“You okay?”  
She looked down on herself. “Yeah, I think.” She glanced at him. “You?”  
“I’m okay. Let’s see what this place has and get out”  
“Alright.” She reloaded her gun and put it away, but made sure she could draw it at any time.  
John was worried about their safety. He knew Natasha could handle herself but that didn’t stop him from worrying.  
“Cover me,” Natasha said to him, planning on taking all the dry food that was undamaged and a big load of canned vegetables and fruit.  
“I’ve got your back,” John told her.  
“Thanks, babe,” she gave him a brief smile as she started packing. She was hyperfocused on her task.  
John was hyper-vigilant as they started moving through the store looking for possible danger.  
They tried to be as quiet as possible when they moved around. John was barely able to keep his fear under the surface.  
Natasha packed a few more things and a toy that looked like it would be right for Leo. She quietly pointed over at the clothes section. She would also need a few things for autumn and winter and something that would fit her when she would grow.  
John nodded and started packing clothes, while Natasha secured him. He found a canvas jacket that would fit him and put it on before grabbing anything that was in one piece. He figured someone at the mansion could use it. He made quick work of packing all the clothes and went to look around again.  
“Do you think we got what we need for now? We can always come back later,” Natasha whispered.  
John nodded. “I think so. Do you want to head back?”  
Natasha just nodded and the two carefully left the building, hoping there were no more zombies. In fact, there was just one, snarling and mindlessly strolling around outside.  
“Shit,” John grumbled but Natasha had taken it down already.  
John looked at her and smiled. “I love you.”  
“I love you too, John.” She checked clip before putting her gun away again.  
John found a safe way out, without any more creatures, but Natasha stayed on alert.  
“Hey.” She put an arm around him. “We got this. We are a great team.”  
“Yeah,” he said, smiling for the first time in a while. “We really are.”  
“Let us head home.”  
“Good idea.”  
John was tightly wound as they headed back to the mansion, only fully relaxing when they got inside to see everyone was fine.  
“You okay?” Natasha asked him.  
“I will be now that we are safe.” He stopped and hugged her. “I love you.”  
“I love you too.”  
“Let’s unpack and check to see where the kiddo is.”  
“Yeah let’s do this.” She had not even said this when Leo came down the stairs to greet them.  
Natasha just wanted to go put the items where they belonged but now she hunched down to hug the boy.  
“Yay, you are back,” Leo said.  
“We promised to hurry.”  
Leo smiled brightly. “I missed you too.”  
John went to pick up the kid. “Did you get bigger already?”  
Leo chuckled. “Maybe.”  
John ruffled the boy’s hair. “You are gonna be bigger than me soon.”  
“Really? Cool.”  
John smiled and set Leo back down. He and Natasha slowly headed over to the storage area. “What have you been up to while we were gone?”  
“I was on watch with Auntie Valerie, we sat on the balcony,” the boy explained.  
“Oh? Did you find anything?” John asked.  
“There was a really fat crow.” Leo gestured the size, clearly exaggerating. “I don’t know how it was even able to fly.”  
“Wow! That’s awesome! Can you draw her for me?” John asked.  
The boy nodded. And Natasha, who had watched the scene was surprised at how fast John had become a real dad.  
“I don’t have a black,” Leo said a bit sad. “It kept breaking and ended up being really small and I lost it.”  
Natasha had knelt down, reaching into her pack, looking for something she had picked up a few hours ago on the supply run. She took out a cardboard box. She let the crayons slide out and only took the black. She wanted to keep the rest as spare for later. “How about you try this one?”  
Leo’s face lit up. John let go so he could go hug Natasha. He grabbed it and looked at it. “Thank you so much, Mommy!”  
“No problem. I’ll keep the rest in case you need other spares later, just ask.”  
Leo nodded quickly.  
After putting away the food and supplies, John took the clothes and went up to the living room where most of the inhabitants were hanging out to talk board games. He sat down the bags with the clothes they had brought. “I was able to grab some clothes for everyone. I have no idea what’s stylish or whatever, but if you find something that fits, take it.”  
Sandra shot him a thumbs up.  
Leo had gone to the Jurnex-family room and sat down on the small table to start drawing the fat crow. Natasha had followed him. She took off her outer gear and then sat down next to him to watch the kid draw.  
Leo grinned and handed her another drawing. “I drew you!” In the drawing Natasha had more of a baby-belly than she currently had.  
Natasha looked at it closely. “Wow, well done. Thank you, Leo.”  
“See there’s the baby,” Leo said and pointed at the belly.  
“I’m glad you incorporated them.”  
“Do you know when they are coming? I want to play with them.”  
“Carol said in the middle of March. And just so know when they come out they will be really small, you will have to wait a bit longer until you can play with them.”  
“That’s a long time…”  
“Yeah, but it will pass faster than you think.”  
Leo frowned which looked kind of cute.  
“You look like your dad,” Natasha said.  
“Really? Will I be as tall as him one day?”  
“Yes. You absolutely will. You don’t have my short-person genes.”  
“You are not short!” the boy said.  
“Not to you, maybe. I was the shortest in my squad.”  
“Nuh-uh, you are tall.”  
Natasha put her hands up as if she was surrendering. “Okay. You are right.”  
Leo giggled and hugged onto her.


End file.
